%     _  PENTECOST; 


*     * 


OR, 


THE  WORK  OF  GOD  IN  PHILADELPHIA. 


A.l).  1858. 


PREPARED    BY 


flic  Qottitg  glen's  Christian  gssociation. 


WITH  A  SUPPLEMENT. 


'•Ami  there  was  great  joy  in  that  city." — Acts  viii.  8. 
"Tell  them  to  stand  up  for  Jesus." — Dying  Words  of  Rev.  Dudley  A.  Tyn , 


*k 


PHILADELPHIA: 

P  A  R  R  Y    &     M  c  M  I  L  L  A  X. 

1*59. 

j 

1 


THE 


(*> 


rOMfi  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATION, 

OF  PHILADELPHIA,  ^ 

Was  established  in  the  year  1854,  with  the  view  of  uniting; 
and  directing  the  efforts  of  Christian  young  men,  as  an  auxi- 
liary to  the  church  of  Christ. 

Its  Fundamental  Rules  are: 

I.  That  the  object  of  the  Association  be  the  improvement 
of  the  spiritual,  mental,  and  social  condition  of  young  men. 

II.  That  the  means  employed  for  the  attainment  of  this 
object  be  Devotional  Meetings,  Lectures,  Lyceum,  a  Library 
for  reference  and  circulation,  Reading-Rooms,  Committees  to 
seek  out  young  men  taking  up  their  residences  in  Phila- 
delphia and  procure  for  them  suitable  boarding-houses  and 
employment,  and,  by  introducing  them  to  members  of  the 
Association,  throw  around  them  Christian  influences,  and  se- 
cure their  attendance  at  places  of  worship  on  the  Sabbath. 

The  Rooms  of  the  Association  are  in  the  second  story  of 
1009  and  1011  Chestnut  Street,  and  are  open  daily  (Sabbaths 
excepted)  from  8  a.  m.  to  10  p.  m.  The}-  are  handsomely 
fitted  up,  and  regularly  supplied  with  one  hundred  of  the 
most  important  Newspapers,  Magazines,  and  Reviews  (both 
religious  and  secular)  published  in  this  country  and  Europe. 

All  young  men  (especially  strangers)  are  cordially  invited 
to  visit  the  Rooms. 

An  Annual  Report,  with  a  list  of  Devotional  Meetings, 
(about  thirty  in  number,)  and  particulars  of  the  operations  of 
the  Association,  may  be  had  on  application  to  the  Correspond- 
ing Secretary. 

Donations  of  funds  for  the  Association,  or  books  for  the 
Library,  will  be  received  with  much  gratitude,  by  the  Presi- 
dent, George  II.  Stuart,  13  Bank  St.,  or  by  the  Correspond- 
ing Secretary,  John  Wanamaker,  1009  and  1011  Chestnut  St. 


J 


PENTECOST 


OE, 


THE  WORK  OF  GOD  IN  PHILADELPHIA, 


A.D.  1858. 


PREPARED    BY 


%\t  foung  glen's  Cljnstian  §lssratiflit. 


WITH  A  SUPPLEMENT. 


"  And  there  was  great  joy  in  that  city." — Acts  viii.  8. 
"Tell  thein  to  stand  Up  for  Jesus."— Dving  words  of  Rev.  Dudley  A.  Ttng. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
PARRY    &     MCJIILLAN. 

1859. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1859,  by 
JOHN  WANAMAKER,  Cor.  Sec, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Eastern 

District  of  Pennsylvania. 


STEREOTYPED  BY  L.  JOHNSON  &  CO. 

PHILADELPHIA. 

COLLINS,  PBINTEB. 


PREFACE. 


"  The  works  of  the  Lord  are  great,  sought  out  of  all  them  that 
have  pleasure  therein."  (Ps.  cxi.  2.)  We  are  commanded  to 
"consider"  them,  to  "talk"  of  them,  to  "declare"  them  to  others, 
as  well  as  to  "rejoice"  in  them  ourselves.  When  Paul  and  Bar- 
nabas returned  to  Antioch,  we  are  told  that  "they  gathered 
the  Church  together,  and  rehearsed  all  that  God  had  done  with 
them,  and  how  he  had  opened  the  door  of  faith  unto  the  Gentiles." 
The  words  of  the  "  beloved  Physician"  are  very  suggestive.  When 
doors  are  opened  that  before  were  closed,  it  is  surely  a  matter  of 
great  rejoicing. 

The  object  of  these  pages  is  twofold, — viz.,  to  recognise  the 
present  work  of  God  in  our  city,  and  to  extend  the  knowledge 
of  it  here  and  elsewhere. 

The  Committee  of  Fifteen  (one  from  each  evangelical  denomi- 
nation represented  in  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association) 
have  felt  alike  the  difficulty,  the  delicacy,  and  the  responsibility 
of  their  trust.  To  enter  on  their  work  with  "a  single  eye,"  to 
collect  authentic  facts,  to  let  these  facts  speak  for  themselves  alike 
to  the  intelligent  Christian  and  the  candid  man  of  the  world, — 
this,  and  this  only,  has  been  their  aim.  If  they  have  failed,  they 
have,  at  least,  "done  what  they  could."  If  their  labours  have 
been  crowned  with  success,  to  God  alone  be  all  the  glory ! 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  De- 
cember 27,  1858,  it  was  further  ordered  that  the  preface  should 
contain  the  resolutions  passed  and  the  names  of  the  committee 
appointed  September  6,  1858, — viz. : 

"Whereas,  very  great  interest  is  manifested  all  through  the 
State  for  definite  and  authentic  information  as  to  the  present 
work  of  God  in  Philadelphia,  and 

3 


4  PREFACE. 

• 

"Whereas,  this  Association,  possessing  as  it  does  such  peculiar 
facilities  for  collecting  and  verifying  the  various  incidents  and 
statistics,  is  naturally  looked  to  as  the  source  from  which  it  might 
most  appropriately  emanate:  therefore 

"Resolved,  That,  in  the  absence  of  any  thing  else  of  this  kind, 
it  is  exceedingly  desirable  that  a  tract  of  four-and-twenty  [after- 
wards enlarged]  pages  should  be  issued  at  as  early  a  period  as 
possible,  containing  such  an  account  of  this  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  as'  may  be  best  calculated  to  promote  its  extension  here 
and  elsewhere." 

COMMITTEE. 

Rev.  George  Dpjffield,  Jr Presbyterian,  (N.  S.) 

James  S.  Martin Reformed  Presbyterian. 

George  S.  Fox Protestant  Episcopal. 

John  C.  Bliss Independent. 

John  Wiest German  Reformed. 

William  Getty United  Presbyterian. 

George  0.  Evans Baptist. 

T.  Esmonde  Harper Presbyterian,  (0.  S.) 

John  M.  Dutton Metbodist  Episcopal. 

John  F.  Graff Reformed  Dutcb. 

Ellwood  B.  Davis Society  of  Friends. 

William  Rovzee Disciples  of  Christ. 

F.  B.  Atmore Methodist  Protestant. 

Henry  B.  Ashmead Lutheran. 

D.  M.  Warner Moravian. 

Signed  by  order  of  the  Association, 

GEORGE   H.  STUART,  President. 
John  Wanamaker,  Cor.  Secretary. 

Philadelphia,  Dec.  28,  1858. 


THE 


WORK  OF  GOD  IN  PHILADELPHIA. 


11  It  icill  generally  be  found,  that  when  God  is  about  to  be- 
stow any  remarkable  favour  on  a  person  or  people,  He  pre- 
viously pours  out  upon  them  a  spirit  of  earnest  supplication 
for  it"  So  said  a  pastor  in  Philadelphia,  nearly  a 
hundred  years  ago.  The  principle  is  undoubtedly  a 
correct  one.  God  leads  his  people  to  pray  for  that 
which  he  designs  to  give.  Thus  it  was  previous  to  the 
great  day  of  Pentecost,  when  the  disciples  "  continued 
with  one  accord  in  prayer  and  supplication,  with  the 
women  and  Mary  the  mother  of  Jesus,  and  with  his 
brethren."  Thus  it  was  at  the  commencement  of  the 
Reformation,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  of  the  "  Great 
Awakening,"  in  the  last.  So  is  it  still,  when  a  risen 
Saviour  is  once  more  standing  in  the  midst  of  his  disci- 
ples, breathing  upon  them,  and  saying,  "Receive  ye  the 
Holy  Ghost."    (John  xx.  22.) 

This  mighty  work  began  in  Prayer,  "  under  the  fig- 
tree,"  (John  i.  48 ;)  and  prayer  is  the  key  by  means  of 
which  to  unlock  its  entire  history.  The  same  voice  of 
the  Lord  that  had  spoken  to  his  people  in  his  Providence, 
had  already  been  speaking  in  them  by  the  "  still  small 
voice"  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  in  evidence,  the  most 
authentic  and  definite,  before  those  intrusted  with  the 
compilation  of  these  pages,  that  as  early  as  January, 
1856,  there  were  not  a  few  who  were  led  to  pray,  u  O 
Lord,  revive  thy  work,"  and  to  engage  in  united  prayer 
for  this  purpose.  "  Scores  of  richly-laden  vessels/'  said 
they,  "  are  now  lying  in  the  river  a  few  miles  below  our 

1*  5 


0  THE   WORK    OF   GOD   IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

city,  anxiously  waiting  to  reach  our  wharves.  "Why  this 
delay  ?  Because  the  channel  is  closed  by  the  ice.  Thus  it 
is  with  the  exceeding  great  and  precious  promises  of 
God.  Not  only  is  He  willing,  but  He  is  waiting  to  bestow 
them  upon  us.  Why  does  He  not  bestow  them  ?  Alas ! 
prayer  is  indeed  the  appointed  channel  through  which 
the  blessing  flows ;  but  the  channel  is  not  open  by  which  for 
God  to  communicate,  or  for  us  to  receive  it.  It  is  because 
we  restrain  prayer,  that  the  things  that  remain  are 
ready  to  die." 

The  spirit  of  prayer  thus  so  graciously  revived  in  the 
hearts  of  some  of  God's  people  for  themselves,  in  the 
month  of  October,  a.d.  1857,  took  a  more  extended 
range;  "Open  thy  mouth  wide,  and  I  will  fill  it," 
(Ps.  lxxxi.  10,)  was  the  message  that  came  to  many  a 
closet.  "  Pray  for  this  city,  this  great  and  wicked 
city,"  was  the  suggestion  constantly  pressing  upon 
those  who  loved  to  pray;  they  must  pray  for  it  specifi- 
cally, if  they  prayed  at  all. 

Soon  the  stream  of  prayer,  overflowing  the  hearts  of 
individual  suppliants  in  the  closet,  found  its  way  into 
the  various  churches.  Christians  began  to  love  the  place 
where  prayer  was  wont  to  be  made,  and  to  assemble 
there  in  unusual  numbers.  This  increase  of  interest  in 
the  church  prayer-meeting  naturally  suggested  union 
prayer-meetings  for  the  entire  denomination ;  each 
church,  in  regular  succession,  being  visited  by  those 
who  loved  to  pray  from  the  others,  and  all  the  churches 
for  the  time-being  making  but  one  church  for  this  pur- 
pose. These  "  union"  meetings  were  held  at  different 
seasons ;  some  early  in  the  winter,  some  later,  and  some 
in  the  following  spring;  and  at  different  times,  some  in 
the  afternoon,  others  in  the  evening ;  some  once  a  week, 
others  more  frequently.  The  testimony  from  all  the 
different  denominations  as  to  the  delightful  influence 
of  thus   coming  together,   as  "  with  one  accord,"  for 


THE    WORK    OF    GOD    IN    miLADELPIHA.  7 

prayer  and  supplication,  was  one  and  the  same.  Once 
more  the  dew  was  on  the  fleece,  tho  "  little  cloud"  above 
the  horizon,  and  it  was  manifest  to  the  feeblest  faith 
that  again  the  Lord  had  "spoken  good  concerning 
Israel." 

But  a  higher  and  still  more  perfect  and  glorious  de- 
velopment of  the  spirit  of  prayer  was  yet  in  reserve. 
Simultaneously  with  tho  outpouring  of  the  "  spirit  of 
grace  and  supplication"  on  the  different  churches,  by 
the  great  Head  of  the  church,  it  also  pleased  Him  to 
pour  out  upon  them,  in  a  most  remarkable  degree,  like 
the  precious  ointment  on  the  head  of  Aaron,  the  spirit 
of  Christian  Union.  The  impassioned  appeals  of 
Rev.  Dr.  Duff;  an  anniversary  at  the  Musical  Fund 
Hall,  wThere  addresses  were  made  on  this  subject  by 
various  ministers,  and  one  in  particular  by  the  Rev. 
Dudley  A.  Tyng ;  the  "  union"  prayer-meetings  on 
Thanksgiving-day ;  the  invitations  freely  extended  to 
ministers  of  different  ecclesiastical  bodies,  to  occupy  the 
pulpits  of  other  denominations ;  and  occasionally  a  series 
of  Sabbath  evening  discourses,  delivered  in  the  same 
church  by  representatives  of  all  the  different  denomina- 
tions in  the  city;  these  and  many  similar  circumstances 
announced  as  plainly  what  was  coming,  as  ever  the 
bright  purple  clouds  in  the  east  announced  the  rising 
of  the  sun  !  Almost  as  by  a  simultaneous  consent,  it 
became  evident  to  all  that  it  was  not  the  things  in 
which  the  followers  of  Jesus  differed  that  made  them 
Christians,  but  those  in  which  they  were  agreed  ;  that 
they  were  not  distant  connections,  but  blood  relations 
through  Him  who  shed  his  blood  in  common  for  them 
all ;  that,  whatever  might  be  their  particular  state,  they 
were  all  of  the  same  nation  ;  whatever  their  particular 
tribe,  they  all  belonged  to  God's  one  Israel.  "  That 
they  all  may  be  one,  as  Thou,  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I 
in  Thee,  that  they  also  may  be  one  in  us;  that  the  world 


8  THE    WORK    OP   GOD   IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

may  believe  that  Thou  hast  sent  me," — this  was  the  spirit 
of  their  daily  and  most  importunate  supplication;  and, 
even  while  they  were  yet  speaking,  graciously  was  it 
heard  and  answered.  The  "golden  age"  in  the  civil 
history  of  our  Commonwealth  was  again  renewed  in 
her  spiritual  history,  and  on  every  hand  was  heard  the 
exclamation,  "  Behold  how  these  brethren  love  one 
another  I" 

The  Spirit  of  God  having  thus  so  wonderfully  pre- 
pared the  hearts  of  his  people  for  this  work,  it  remained 
for  the  providence  of  God  to  supply  some  appropriate 
instrumentality.  Accordingly,  on  the  23d  of  Septem- 
ber, 1857,  in  the  Fulton  Street  Prayer-Fleeting,  Xew 
York,  He  gathered  together,  almost  unknown  to  those 
who  first  composed  the  meeting,  the  simple  elements  of 
moral  power  which  in  their  combination  were  to  be  so 
wonderfully  effective.  Business  Men,  men  of  every 
denomination,  at  the  hour  of  noon,  were  to  meet  daily 
for  the  great  purpose  of  intercessory  prayer  ;  to  these 
meetings  those  "out  of  Christ"  were  to  be  invited;  ex- 
hortations given  to  them,  prayers  offered  specifically  for 
them,  if  they  so  desired  it  themselves,  or  if  it  was  desired 
by  their  friends ;  with  what  result,  is  now  known  to  the 
world  ! 

Among  those  who  attended  the  first  "  Business-Lien's 
Prayer-Meeting"  in  Xew  York,  was  a  young  man  not 
yet  twenty-one  years  of  age.  As  good  had  resulted  from 
these  meetings  in  one  city,  why  might  not  equal  good 
be  done  by  them  in  another  ?  Surely  it  was  worth  the 
effort.  Some  of  his  fellow-members  of  the  Youno-  Men's 
Christian  Association,  with  whom  he  conversed,  being 
of  the  same  opinion,  and  promising  their  co-operation  in 
the  matter,  he  applied  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Union  Church,  Fourth  Street  below  Arch,  for 
the  use  of  their  lecture-room.  The  request  was  promptly 
complied  with,  and  the  first  noon  prayer-meeting  in  the 


THE    WORK    OP   GOD    IN    PHILADELPHIA.  9 

city  of  Philadelphia  was  held  in  the  Union  Church,  Nov. 
23,  a.d.  1857.  Was  it  a  mere  coincidence  that  this  pre- 
cious germ  was  planted  on  the  spot  consecrated  by  tho 
prayers  and  labours  of  tho  immortal  Whitefield  ? 

For  a  time,  however,  tho  response  on  the  part  of  the 
business-men  was  far  from  encouraging;  thirty-six  being 
the  highest  number  present,  and  the  average  attendance 
not  exceeding  twelve.  At  length  it  was  deemed  expe- 
dient to  remove  the  meeting  to  a  more  central  position ; 
and  the  ante-room  of  the  spacious  Hall  of  Dr.  Jayne 
having  been  generousiy  granted  by  him  for  this  pur- 
pose, the  first  meeting  was  held  there  Feb.  3,  1858. 
Even  then  the  increase  in  numbers  was  very  gradual, 
indeed :  first  twenty,  then  thirty,  forty,  fifty,  sixty  per- 
sons,— so  little  did  "  tho  kingdom  of  God,"  in  the  first 
instance,  "  come  with  observation." 

But  now,  almost  as  in  an  instant,  the  whole  aspect  of 
affairs  underwent  a  most  surprising  change.  "  By  Mon- 
day, March  8,"  says  one,  "the  attendance  in  the  smaller 
apartment  of  the  Hall  had  reached  three  hundred ;  and 
by  the  next  day,  it  was  evident  that  many  were  going 
away  for  want  of  room.  The  brethren  present,  with 
much  fear  for  the  result,  yet  apparently  led  by  Provi- 
dence, on  Tuesday,  March  9,  voted  to  hold  the  meeting 
tho  next  day,  at  twelve  o'clock,  in  the  large  Hall.  It. 
was  our  privilege  to  be  present  at  that  time, — Wednes- 
day, noon.  The  centre  of  the  Hall  has  seats  for  twenty- 
five  hundred  people,  and  it  was  filled.  The  entire  Hall 
seats  more  than  four  thousand.  The  next  day  it  was 
filled  again,  with  the  galleries,  and  still  it  was  obvious 
there  was  not  room  for  the  people.  The  curtain  was 
therefore  drawn  away  from  before  the  stage,  and  the 
large  platform  thrown  open  to  the  audience.  The  next 
day,  (Friday,)  the  partition  between  the  smaller  and 
larger  rooms  was  taken  down,  and  the  Hall  from  street 
to  street  thrown  open. 


10  THE    WORK   OP   GOD   IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

"The  sight  is  now  grand  and  solemn.  The  Hall  is 
immensely  high.  In  the  rear,  several  tiers  of  elegantly- 
ornamented  boxes  extended  from  the  ceiling,  in  a  semi- 
circular form,  around  the  stage,  or  platform ;  and  on  the 
stage,  and  filling  the  seats,  aisles,  and  galleries,  three 
thousand  souls — at  once,  on  one  weekday  after  another, 
at  its  busiest  hour — bow  before  God  in  prayer  for  the 
revival  of  his  work.  Ministers  and  people,  men  and 
women,  of  all  denominations  or  of  none,  all  gather,  and 
all  are  welcome. 

"  There  is  no  noise;  no  confusicm.  A  layman  conducts 
the  meeting.  Any  suitable  person  may  pray  or  speak  to 
the  audience  for  three  minutes  only.  If  he  do  not  bring 
his  prayer  or  remarks  to  a  close  in  that  time,  a  bell  is 
touched,  and  he  gives  way.  One  or  two  verses  of  the 
most  spiritual  hymns  go  up  like  the  '  sound  of  many 
waters/  requests  for  prayer  for  individuals  are  then 
read ;  one  layman  or  minister  succeeds  another  in  per- 
fect order  and  quiet,  and,  after  a  space  which  seems  a 
few  minutes,  so  strange,  so  absorbing,  so  interesting  is 
the  scene,  the  leader  announces  that  it  is  one  o'clock, 
and,  punctual  to  the  moment,  a  minister  pronounces  the 
benediction,  and  the  immense  audience,  slowly,  quietly, 
and  in  perfect  order,  pass  from  the  Hall;  some  ministers 
remaining  to  converse,  in  a  small  room  off  the  platform, 
with  any  who  may  desire  spiritual  instruction. 

" lso  man  there — no  man,  perhaps,  living  or  dead — 
has  ever  seen  any  thing  like  it.  On  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost Peter  preached  :  Luther  preached,  and  Livingston, 
and  "Whitefield,  and  Wesley!  Great  spiritual  movements 
have  been  usually  identified  with  some  eloquent  voice ; 
but  no  name,  except  the  name  that  is  above  every  name, 
is  identified  with  this  meeting." 

"Yes,"  said  a  clergyman  on  the  following  Sabbath, 
"  think  of  the  prayer-meetings  this  last  week  in  Jayne's 
Hall,  literally  and  truly  unprecedented  and  unparalleled 


THE   WORK    OP   GOD    IN    PHILADELPHIA.  11 

in  the  history  of  any  city  or  any  age ;  wave  after  wave 
pouring  in  from  the  closet,  from  the  family,  from  the 
church,  from  the  'Union  Prayer-Meetings/  until  the 
great  tidal  or  tenth  wave  rolled  its  might}1"  surge  upon 
us,  swallowing  up  for  the  time-being  all  separate  sects, 
creeds,  denominations,  in  the  one  great,  glorious,  and 
only  Church  of  the  Holy  Ghost !  God  is  with  us,  of  a 
truth !" 

But  even  these  descriptions  fall  short  of  the  real  extent 
of  religious  feeling  in  the  city  at  large.  Jayne's  Hall, 
immense  as  it  was,  was  not  the  only  place  where  Chris- 
tians of  every  name  met  for  the  purpose  of  united 
prayer.  Towards  the  close  of  that  same  Pentecostal 
week,  a  Union  Prayer-Meeting  was  called  in  a  church 
conveniently  situated  in  the  northern  part  of  the  city. 
At  the  hour  appointed,  some  twenty  persons  might  have 
been  seen  slowly  making  their  way  through  the  un- 
broken snow-drifts,  to  keep  their  faith  with  God  and 
with  each  other.  But  from  the  very  moment  that  they 
crossed  the  threshold,  it  was  manifest  that  God  was  with 
them  of  a  truth,  and  that  the  blessing  was  "coming"  to 
them  also.  On  Friday  afternoon  it  came  in  all  its  ful- 
ness. The  large  lecture-room  (capable  of  holding  some 
five  hundred  persons)  was  crowded  to  overflowing.  The 
number  of  requests  on  the  table  for  prayer  was  so  great 
that  the  leader  only  looked  at  them  with  wonder,  and 
did  not  pretend  to  read  them.  "  Doubtless,"  said  he, 
"we  all  feel  just  in  the  same  way  for  our  unconverted 
friends  and  relatives.  For  my  own  part,  I  must  ask 
you  to  pray  for  my  children/7  "  For  my  two  sons  and 
a  daughter/'  said  a  second.  "For  my  father,"  said  a 
third.  "  For  my  husband,"  said  a  lady,  with  a  tender- 
ness and  energy  that  thrilled  through  every  soul  j  and 
thus,  in  less  than  three  minutes,  a  hundred  similar 
requests  were  presented  throughout  the  whole  room. 
Then,  as  with  one  accord,  the  entire  congregation  lifted 


12  THE    WORK    OF   GOD    IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

up  their  voices  and  wept  together.  The  place  was  in- 
deed a  Bochimj  and  of  all  the  scenes  that  have  been 
witnessed  during  the  revival,  perhaps  there  was  none 
more  perfectly  characteristic  and  overwhelming.  A  few- 
days  after,  at  this  same  meeting,  the  people  of  God,  as 
by  a  common  impulse,  rose  to  their  feet,  and  there, 
standing  before  the  Lord,  solemnly  consecrated  them- 
selves afresh  to  his  service.  The  history  in  detail  of 
that  single  meeting  would  constitute  a  volume  of  itself. 
Out  of  many  incidents,  we  select  but  one. 

At  the  close  of  a  meeting,  a  lady  approached  a  little 
group  of  ministers  and  others,  and  called  one  of  them 
aside  to  speak  with  him.  "  I  could  not  find  it  in  my 
heart/'  said  she,  "  to  leave  this  room,  until  I  told  what 
God  had  done  for  my  soul.  I  came  here  this  afternoon 
in  darkness,  heavily  burdened  with  my  sin,  and  wellnigh 
in  despair;  but,  during  the  third  prayer,  I  felt  as  if  I 
could  believe  on  Christ:  peace  came  to  my  soul,  and 
now  I  must  go  home  and  tell  mother!"  The  tone  of  voice, 
the  expression  of  countenance,  the  tears  rolling  down 
her  cheeks,  and  joy  meanwhile  beaming  from  her  eyes, 
it  is  utterly  impossible  for  us  to  describe.  Conversion 
was  to  her  a  change  as  real  as  for  one  asleep  to  awake ; 
for  a  captive  in  darkness  and  in  a  dungeon  to  come  out 
into  light  and  liberty;  for  one  who  before  was  blind  to 
be  made  to  see ;  for  one  who  was  dead  to  be  made  alive. 

The  lecture-room  having  become  too  strait  for  the 
multitude  of  worshippers,  similar  Union  prayer-meetings 
were  established  farther  west  and  north,  in  the  after- 
noon ;  and  also  in  the  Handel  and  Haydn  Hall  at  noon, 
— the  attendance  at  the  latter  place  amounting  at  times 
to  a  thousand  or  twelve  hundred  persons.  Taking  all 
the  Union  prayer-meetings  together,  independent  of  the 
regular  church-meetings  in  the  evening,  the  number  of 
those  wTho  daily  met  for  prayer  about  this  time  was  at 
least  five  thousand. 


THE    WORK   OF   GOD   IN   PHILADELPHIA.  13 

In  connection  with  the  Union  prayer-meetings,  as  if 
by  common  consent,  "union  preaching"  was  also  esta- 
blished. That  all  might  feel  equally  free  to  attend,  the 
favourite  place  for  such  preaching  was  the  great  public 
halls,  such  as  Jayne's,  Handel  and  Haydn,  and  the 
American  Mechanics';  and,  what  is  very  significant,  all 
of  them  were  freely  tendered  by  the  proprietors  for  the 
use  of  the  people,  without  expense.  The  time  appointed 
for  these  services  was  usually  on  the  afternoon  of  a 
weekday,  or  at  such  an  hour  on  the  Sabbath  as  would 
not  interfere  with  public  worship  in  the  churches.  Two 
sermons  in  this  course,  by  the  Eev.  Dudley  A.  Tyng, — 
one  on  the  words,  "Come  ;  for  all  things  are  now  ready," 
and  the  other  on,  "Ye  that  are  men,  serve  the  Lord," — 
will  never  be  forgotten, — especially  the  latter,  when  the 
congregation  at  Jayne's  Hall  numbered  at  least  five 
thousand.  The  way  of  God  in  the  sanctuary  was  won- 
derful indeed.  The  gospel  came  not  in  word,  only,  but 
in  power. 

At  these  meetings,  also,  multitudes  of  tracts  and 
books,  some  of  them  original,  and  some  whose  value  had 
been  tested  by  their  circulation  for  more  than  half  a 
century,  were  freely  distributed  at  the  doors  to  those 
who  were  retiring  from  the  meetings.  It  seemed  as  if 
every  Christian  brother  or  sister,  who  had  been  benefited 
by  any  particular  tract,  could  not  rest  until  they  had 
provided  a  copy  for  others.  The  favourite  tract  was  the 
one  entitled  "Come  to  Jesus. "  Come,  was  the  great 
watchword  of  the  day.  And  if  there  was  one  text  heard 
more  frequently  than  another,  and  one  in  the  spirit  of 
which  Christians  were  most  earnestly  endeavouring  to 
act,  it  was  Eev.  xxii.  17,  "  The  Spirit  and  the  bride  say, 
Come.  And  let  him  that  heareth  say,  Come.  And  let 
him  that  is  athirst,  Come.  And  whosoever  will,  let 
him  take  the  water  of  life,  freely  !" 

Meanwhile,  the  increase  of  attendance  on  public  wor- 

2 


14  THE   WORK   OF   GOD    IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

ship  on  the  Sabbath,  and  the  number  of  churches  opened 
for  services  during  the  week;  -was  beyond  all  precedent. 
During  the  latter  part  of  the  winter,  rarely  indeed  would 
you  pass  in  the  evening  the  lecture-room  of  an  evangeli- 
cal church  that  was  not  lighted  up  for  prayer  or  preach- 
ing. Sometimes  even  the  main  body  of  the  church  itself 
was  not  able  to  accommodate  the  multitude  of  worship- 
pers. In  some,  these  services  had  commenced  months  or 
weeks  before,  and  were  only  continued  ;  in  others,  they 
were  now  held  for  the  first  time ;  in  all,  there  were  the 
manifest  indications  of  the  presence  and  power  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  The  action  of  the  Union  meetings  upon 
the  churches,  and  of  the  churches  upon  the  Union  meet- 
ings, was  reciprocally  delightful  and  profitable.  No 
rivalry — no  collision.  The  revival  spirit  was  alike  one 
and  the  same  everywhere;  the  same  "spiritual  songs •" 
the  same  fervent  intercession  for  sinners;  the  same 
earnest  invitation  to  come  to  Jesus  and  receive  his 
rest;  rest  for  the  mind  in  his  truth — for  the  heart  in 
his  love. 

As  with  individuals,  there  were  diversities  of  opera- 
tion by  the  same  spirit,  many  gladly  receiving  the  word, 
and  receiving  it  at  once,  others  lingering  in  the  usual 
■way, — so  was  it  with  the  churches.  At  one  time  the. 
"promise  of  the  Father"  came  as  the  dew;  at  another, 
as  the  copious  shower;  at  still  another,  as  "the  rushing 
of  a  mighty  wind,"  all-powerful  and  unexpected.  "  On  < 
Sabbath,  the  7th  of  March,"  says  one  of  our  pastors,  "  I 
entered  my  pulpit,  weak  from  recent  illness,  and  won- 
dering whether  the  thickly-springing  '  thorns'  would 
continue  to  '  choke  the  word/  as  usual.  The  day  was 
damp  and  cold  without ;  the  temperature  almost  equally 
chilly  and  uncomfortable  within.  I  did  not  know  that 
there  was  one  awakened  soul  in  the  entire  congregation. 
Yet,  before  the  day  was  over,  there  were  thirty  cases 
of  awakening  brought  to  light,  and  six  of  hopeful  con- 


THE    WORK    OF   GOD   IN   PHILADELPHIA.  15 

version.  In  tho  afternoon,  especially,  at  a  joint  meeting 
of  parents  and  Sabbath-school  teachers  to  pray  for  tho 
children,  the  Holy  Spirit  was  poured  out  in  such  a  surpris- 
ing mannor  and  to  such  a  wonderful  extent  as  I  had  never 
seen  it  before.  The  Spirit  of  prayer,  which  a  few  days 
before  had  begun  to  manifest  itself  in  two  or  three  of 
tho  very  youngest  members  of  tho  church,  now  became 
almost  universal.  If  we  saw  not  tho  <  tongue  of  fire/ 
at  least  we  heard  it.  For  a  series  of  wTeeks,  meetings 
were  held  every  evening,  sustaining  themselves  simply 
by  voluntary  exhortations  and  prayers,  without  the 
necessity  of  a  single  sermon,  except  upon  the  Sabbath. 
Cases  of  conviction,  and  many  of  conversion,  during 
prayer,  left  no  doubt  of  its  efficacy.  The  rapidity  of 
conversion  was  beyond  all  parallel,  and  for  the  young 
converts  to  begin  at  once  to  pray  and  labour  for  the  sal- 
vation of  others,  was  recognised  by  them  simply  as  a 
matter  of  course."  Eight  months'  later  testimony  from 
the  same  witness  is  equally  favourable  as  to  their  con- 
tinued zeal  and  spirituality,  thus  giving,  by  their 
"fruits,"  evidence  the  most  conclusive  and  satisfactory 
that  they  were  "  born  of  God." 

While  such  wonders  as  these  were  transpiring  all 
through  the  city,  public  attention  and  interest  were 
awakened  in  them  in  no  ordinary  degree.  In  vain  was 
an  occasional  cry  raised  here  and  there  of  "  priestcraft," 
"enthusiasm,"  "fanaticism."  No  definition  of  these 
terms  seemed  at  all  applicable  to  the  case  in  hand.  In 
vain  did  the  boldest  of  the  transgressors  endeavour  to 
rally  an  organized  opposition ;  the  disposition  "  to 
cease  from  the  instruction  that  causeth  to  err,"  left  the 
synagogues  of  Satan  deserted  and  desolate.  In  vain 
was  every  subtle  expedient  resorted  to,  to  involve  the 
followers  of  Christ  in  angry  and  unprofitable  contro- 
versy. "Speaking  the  truth  in  love,"  and  believing 
that  the  best  way  to  refute  error  was  by  teaching  the 


, 


16       THE  WORK  OF  GOD  IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

truth  as  it  was  in  Jesus,  they  humbly  relied  on  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  make  the  truth  manifest  in  every  man's  con- 
science. The  worse  the  man,  the  more  did  Christians 
pity  him ;  the  greater  the  enemy,  the  more  did  they 
pray  for  him.  On  one  occasion,  at  the  noon  prayer- 
meeting,  Nena  Sahib  himself  was  proposed  as  a  subject 
of  prayer,  and  by  whom,  of  all  other  persons  in  the 
world,  but  by  a  Christian  mother  whose  own  son  was 
one  of  the  missionaries  so  foully  murdered  by  him  on 
the  Ganges ! 

As  to  the  impression  made  upon  the  minds  of  Chris- 
tians generally  by  this  new  and  wonderful  state  of  things, 
perhaps  as  fair  an  illustration  as  any  may  be  found  in 
the  remarks  of  a  good  old  coloured  sister,  one  morning 
when  returning  from  a  sunrise  prayer-meeting  in  the 
"  Canvas  Church  :" — 

"  The  day  this  great  revival  first  broke  out,"  said  she, 
"that  is,  when  I  first  heard  of  it, — that  very  morning  I 
was  reading  my  New  Testament,  in  the  seventh  chapter 
of  Eevelation.  A  revival  among  the  Methodists !  and 
the  Baptists  !  and  the  Episcopalians  !  and  the  Presby- 
terians !  and  all  the  churches !  Bless  the  Lord,  the 
chapter  has  come  !  Sure  enough,  the  four  angels  are 
standing  on  the  four  corners  of  the  earth,  and  holding 
back  the  four  winds;  and  the  great  angel  having  the 
seal  of  the  living  God  has  gone  out  a-sealing  his  ser- 
vants in  their  foreheads;  twelve  thousand  in  this  tribe  ! 
and  twelve  thousand  in  that !  No  'partiality  with  Him  ! 
And  soon  the  hundred  and  forty  and  four  thousand,  of 
all  kindred  and  people  and  tongues,  shall  stand  before 
the  throne,  and  before  the  Lamb,  clothed  with  white 
robes,  and  palms  in  their  hands,  and  singing  salvation 
to  our  God  !  Bless  the  Lord  !  I  hope  poor  old  Mary  will 
be  among  them  too." 

Truly  may  it  be  said  of  the  work  that  it  has  been 
"without  partiality,"  and  that  God  has  been  no  respecter 


THE    WORK   OF   GOD   IN    PHILADELPHIA.  17 

of  persons.     Like  the  rain  and  the  sunshine,  it  has  fallen 
on  all  the  different  fields  of  his  heritage,  with  no  invi- 
dious distinction   or  discrimination.     "  Parthians,  and 
Modes,  and  Elamites,  and  the  dwellers  in  Mesopotamia, 
and  in  Judea,  and  Cappadocia,  and  Pontus,  and  Asia, 
Phrygia,  and  Pamphylia,  and  in  the  parts  of  Libya  about 
Cyrene,  and  strangers  of  Eome,  Jews  and  proselytes, 
Cretes  and  Arabians,"  no  matter  what  the  ecclesiastical 
name  of  those  who  "hold  the  Head,"  (Col.  ii.  19,)  and 
believe  that  "Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God  !" 
"Sons  and  daughters,"  "young  men"  and  "old  men," 
"  servants"  and  "  handmaidens,"  no  matter  what  their 
relative  position  in  the  church  or  in  the  community ! 
Greek  or  Jew,  "  circumcision  or  uncircumcision,"  bar- 
barian, Scythian,  bond  or  free,  no  matter  what  their 
social  position, — all,  without  exception,  have  been  made 
to  acknowledge  the  reality  of  this  gracious  influence  of 
the  Holy  Spirit ;  all  of  them,  according  to  the  number 
of  their  labourers,  have  gathered  into  their  several  barns 
their  due  proportion  of  the  abounding  harvest.  .  Like 
the  manna  that  lay  all  round  about  the  camp,  of  which 
the  children  of  Israel,  all  who  were  hungry,  did  gather, 
"some  more,  some  less;"  like  the  rock  smitten  at  Ho- 
reb,  just  as  much  for  the  benefit  of  one  tribe  as  another, 
to  whose  flowing  waters  came  all  who  were  thirstv, — 
so  has  it  recently  been  with  this  new  and  most  grateful 
supply  of  the  bread  and  water  of  life  eternal.     Literally, 
and  without  a  figure,  the  promise  of  the  Father  has  once 
more  been  fulfilled  in  the  midst  of  us;  and,  through  his 
only-begotten  Son,  in  whom  all  fulness  dwells,  he  has 
poured  out  of  his  Spirit  on  all  flesh  !     He  has  blessed  the 
house  of  Israel !     He  has  blessed  the  house  of  Aaron  ! 
Blessed  be  his  name  !    Of  the  ten  thousand  who,  we  hope, 
have   been   converted  within  the   borders  of  our  city 
during  this  Year  of  Jubilee,  it  would  be  utterly  im- 
possible to  make  a  more  equitable  and  satisfactory  divi- 
B  2* 


18  THE   WORK   OF   GOD   IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

sion  among  the  various  denominations  than  God  by  his 
providence  and  Spirit  has  made  already !  One  denomi- 
nation received  3010 ;  a  second,  1800  j  a  third,  1735  j  a 
fourth,  1150;  a  fifth,  500;  a  sixth,  363;  a  seventh,  200; 
an  eighth,  90 ;  a  ninth,  28,  &c.  He  hath  beautified  the 
gates  of  Zion,  alike  on  the  East,  on  the  North,  on  the 
South,  and  on  the  West,  and  the  names  of  the  twelve 
tribes  of  Israel  are  alike  legible  on  them  all.  He  who 
will  measure  with  the  "  golden  reed"  of  Christian  charity 
and  truth,  will  find  that  "  the  city  lieth  four  square,  and 
the  length  is  as  large  as  the  breadth.  The  length  and 
the  breadth  and  the  height  of  it  are  equal." 

But  to  resume  our  narrative.  It  became  apparent 
about  the  middle  of  April  that  the  flood-tide  of  salvation 
which  had  thus  rolled  in  so  wonderfully  upon  our  favoured 
city,  was  beginning  to  turn.  The  season  of  holy  joy  on 
the  part  of  some  of  the  people  of  God,  gave  place  to 
most  intense  anxiety.  "  Has  this  mighty  work  gone 
deep  enough  into  our  hearts  ?"  "  In  this  general  bap- 
tism of  the  Holy  Spirit,  are  we  careful  to  realize  the 
necessity  for  an  individual,  personal  baptism?"  "Do 
we  not  need  a  fuller  consecration  to  the  work  of  Christ, 
one  more  entire  and  unreserved,  than  we  have  ever 
made  before  V  Such  were  the  searching  questions 
which  God  himself  was  soon  to  answer  in  his  most 
solemn  Providence. 

Among  those  whose  heart  was  with  the  Jayne's  Hall 
meeting  from  its  very  commencement,  and  who  long 
before  had  caught  the  blessed  spirit  of  Christian  union, 
like  some  lofty  mountain  the  earliest  rays  of  sunrise, 
was  "The  Child  of  Prayer."  Daily  was  he  seen  upon 
the  platform,  none  happier  than  he  in  the  belief  that 
again  the  windows  of  heaven  had  been  opened  above 
us,  and  God  was  pouring  out  his  blessing.  Often  did 
his  voice  of  earnest  exhortation,  alike  to  saint  and  sin- 
ner, sound  in  our  ears  with  all  the  clearness  and  sweet- 


THE   WORK   ()F   <i()J)   JN    PHILADELPHIA.  19 

ness  of  a  silver  trumpet.  Once  and  again  did  be  lead 
us  in  the  great  congregation,  as  we  repeated  with  him, 
and  learned  again  as  it  were,  the  meaning  of  that  holy 
prayer  which  Jesus  himself  taught  to  his  disciples, — 
"  Our  Father,  who  art  in  heaven  :  hallowed  be  thy 
name.  Thy  kingdom  come;  thy  will  be  done."  But  ah, 
how  soon  was  the  sincerity  of  this  last  petition  to  bo 
put  to  a  most  fearful  trial ! 

Reminding  us  as  he  did  in  so  many  respects  by  his 
fervent  and  intelligent  piety  of  that  burning  and  shining 
light,  John  the  Baptist,  the  great  Harbinger  of  the  Mes-. 
siah,  like  him,  also,  he  was  cut  off  suddenly,  unexpect- 
edly, and  in  the  prime  of  life,  just  at  the  very  moment 
when,  of  all  others,  he  was  the  most  precious  to  the 
church  of  God  and  could  the  least  be  spared.  And  all 
that  remained  for  us  in  our  sore  bereavement  was  to 
imitate  the  disciples  of  John,  and  go  "and  tell  Jesus.'' 
That  scene  on  the  22d  of  April  in  Concert  Hall;  the  en- 
tire evangelical  clergy  of  the  city  on  the  platform ;  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  of  which  he  was  an 
original  member,  in  the  gallery;  the  members  of  his 
own  beloved  church  occupying  the  centre  of  the  Hall; 
that  funeral  procession  along  the  aisle;  the  burst  of  an- 
guish that  broke  forth  universally  throughout  that  im- 
mense congregation  when  the  coffin  was  set  down;  that 
deeply-afflicted  father;  that  solemn  charge  of  Bishop 
Mcllvaine  to  his  brethren  in  the  ministry,  to  know  no- 
thing but  "  Jesus  Christ,  and  him  crucified/' — will  they 
ever  be  forgotten  ?  Granted  that  they  may  be  when 
those  who  were  then  present  shall  have  passed  away, 
yet  that  dying  message,  "  Tell  them  to  Stand  up  for 
Jesus,"  will  be  forgotten  never!  never !  Never  in  Phila- 
delphia !  never  in  America  !  never  in  the  world  ! 

"And  they  embalmed  him."  (Gen.  1.  26.)  Such  was 
the  text  of  the  brother  who  delivered  the  funeral  dis- 


20  THE   WORK   OP   GOD   IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

course;   nor  could   he  possibly  have  chosen  one  more 
truly  or  more  tenderly  appropriate. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  with  the  death  of  the 
lamented  Tyng  came  a  new  epoch  in  the  history  of  the 
revival.  Not  in  vain  did  the  Young  Men's  Association 
adopt  his  message  as  their  motto.  Not  in  vain  were  the 
strong  hands  of  Christian  and  ministerial  union  pledged 
in  cordial  grasp  over  that  coffin !  The  mantle  of  his  ac- 
tive and  fraternal  spirit  fell  upon  them  all.  One  in  Christ ! 
one  with  Christ !  one  for  Christ !  why  should  it  be  other- 
wise? 

Perhaps  never  in  the  entire  history  of  the  Church 
since  the  days  of  the  Reformation  were  the  winds  and 
waves  that  too  often  disturb  her  bosom  more  thoroughly 
subdued  and  hushed  to  rest  than  in  our  city  during  the 
few  days  that  intervened  from  the  death  of  this  beloved 
brother  until  his  remains  were  committed  to  the  tomb. 
Once  more  Christianity  seemed  to  reach  her  true  sum- 
mit-level. The  kind  fraternal  and  co-operative  spirit 
that  had  thus  been  developed  must,  of  necessity,  find 
some  appropriate  sphere  in  which  to  manifest  itself.  It 
looks  for  a  field  on  which  to  enter,  and  lo !  white  unto 
the  harvest,  it  finds  it  in  that  of  Union  Missions. 

It  was  asserted  that,  if  on  any  given  day  all  the  evan- 
gelical churches  should  be  filled,  nearly  one  half  of  the 
population  would  be  excluded  for  want  of  room.  Hence 
the  necessity,  as  in  former- times  of  revival,  for  "field- 
preaching"  of  some  kind;  and,  after  careful  deliberation 
as  to  the  best  manner  in  which  it  could  be  secured,  it 
was  unanimously  resolved  in  favour  of  the  Union  Taber- 
nacle. The  "  big  tent/'  as  it  is  commonly  called,  was 
fitted  up  at  the  expense  of  some  two  thousand  dollars, 
with  suitable  accommodation  for  three  thousand  persons, 
many  of  the  contributions  towards  it  being  thank-offer- 
ings from  those  who  had  recently  been  converted.  On 
Saturday,  the  1st  of  May,  it  was  dedicated  by  appro- 


THE    WORK    OP   GOD   IN    PHILADELPHIA.  21 

priate  religious  services.  There  was  present  a  large 
concourse  of  people,  morning,  afternoon,  and  evening, 
and  at  least  fifty  clergymen,  of  various  evangelical  deno- 
minations. In  the  different  services,  representatives  of 
no  less  than  fifteen  of  these  denominations  took  some 
part,  and  thereby  gave  their  countenance  and  public 
approbation  to  the  movement. 

During  the  first  two  months  there  were  fifty-three 
sermons  preached  by  ministers  in  connection  with  eleven 
different  branches  of  the  church  of  Christ;  and  the 
aggregate  number  of  those  present  was  fifty-one  thou- 
sand. During  the  four  and  a  half  months  that  the  tent 
was  in  the  city,  there  were  held  in  it  three  hundred  and 
thirty-three  meetings, — viz. :  twelve  inquiry-meetings, 
thirty-seven  children's  meetings,  one  hundred  and  seven- 
teen prayer-meetings,  and  one  hundred  and  seventy-nine 
services  at  which  there  was  preaching.  The  number 
present  during  these  various  services  has  been  estimated 
in  the  aggregate  at  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand, — to 
whom  the  gospel  has  been  proclaimed  by  ministers  in 
connection  with  nineteen  different  branches  of  the 
church  of  Christ. 

The  whole  number  of  those  who  have  professed  con- 
version in  connection  with  the  services  of  the  tent  in 
the  city  is  about  two  hundred.  Of  the  multitudes  of 
those  who  were  convicted  there,  and  professed  their 
faith  in  various  churches,  we  can  form  no  estimate. 

Conversion  op  an  Old  Man. — One  day,  after  a  ser- 
mon on  the  text,  "Choose  ye  this  day  whom  ye  will 
serve,"  an  aged  man  made  his  way  to  the  pulpit  with 
tearful  eyes,  saying  he  now  felt  it  was  high  time  to  make 
a  decision;  that  the  world  had  deceived  and  ruined  him; 
and  that,  having  a  disease  of  the  heart,  he  expected  any 
moment  to  be  called  into  an  eternity  for  which  he  had 
made  no  preparation.  "My  sins,"  said  he,  "have  been 
so  many  and  great  that  I  despair  of  any  hope ;  and  I 


22  THE    WORK    OF   GOD    IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

can  see  myself  already  in  the  outer  circle  of  the  whirl- 
pool of  eternal  death.  If  I  had  had  strength,  I  should 
have  stood  up  before  the  congregation,  and,  stretching 
out  my  skeleton  hand,  have  bade  the  young  look  at  me 
and  take  warning."  Next  day  he  came  to  the  tent  for 
consultation,  when  he  remarked  that  "  he  knew  histori- 
cally so  much  of  Christ,  that  he  supposed  if  all  the  sins 
of  all  men,  from  the  time  of  Adam  down,  could  be 
heaped  on  the  head  of  one  sinner  and  personified  in  his 
experience,  that  even  such  a  wretch  Christ  would  be 
both  willing  and  able  to  save,  if  he  would  but  come  to 
him;  and  yet,  somehow,"  said  he,  "I  cannot  believe  that 
there  is  mercy  for  me."  He  was  made  the  subject  of 
special  and  earnest  prayer.  The  day  following,  he  sent 
word  from  his  dying  bed  that  his  doubts  and  fear  had 
vanished,  and  all  within  was  peace.  Was  not  this  a 
brand  plucked  from  the  fire. 

Conversion  of  a  Skeptic. — At  the  closing  meeting  of 
the  tent  at  Fourth  and  George  Streets,  a  man,  some  thirty 
years  of  age,  and  of  no  ordinary  intelligence,  made  the 
following  statement,  which,  at  the  request  of  a  number 
who  heard  him,  was  afterwards  committed  to  writing: — 

"Passing  the  tent  one  evening,  curiosity  prompted 
me  to  enter.  I  stayed  until  the  exercises  were  over, 
and  left  rather  interested,  determined  to  spend  an  even- 
ing or  two  afterwards  in  listening  to  the  various  views 
of  ministers  belonging  to  different  denominations  on  the 
subject  of  religion.  I  must  confess,  however,  that  all 
I  heard  there  was  one  great  principle  of  the  Bible, — 
namely,  Christ's  atonement  for  the  sins  of  the  world;  and 
I  began  to  think  that  there  must  be  more  in  religion 
than  I  had  ever  given  it  credit  for,  to  make  men  spend 
their  time  and  money  in  trying  to  convince  others  of 
the  error  of  their  ways.  So  I  still  continued  to  attend 
the  meetings. 

"The  first   time  I  really  took  any  interest  in  that 


THE    WORK    OF.  GOD    IN    PHILADELPHIA  23 

which  concerned  my  soul  was  "while  hearing  a  sermon 
preached  from  Proverbs  ix.  12.  It  sent  an  arrow  of 
conviction  to  my  soul ;  and  I  went  home  persuaded  that 
there  was  a  God,  able  and  willing  to  save,  but  whose  stern 
sense  of  justice  would  compel  him  to  punish  all  those 
who,  knowing  his  will,  defied  his  power.  I  was  at  that 
time  fully  aware  of  the  fact  that,  for  many,  many  years, 
I  had  walked  in  the  highroad  to  destruction,  heeding 
not  the  voice  of  conscience,  keeping  away  from  the  house 
of  God,  listening  to  those  who  denied  his  existence,  and 
following  the  pleasures  of  the  world  through  all  their 
stages,  even  to  the  verge  of  the  drunkard's  grave.  Well 
may  I  love  that  tent !  If  a  man  never  forgets  the  place 
of  his  earthly  birth,  how  much  more  must  he  remember 
the  place  where  he  is  born  of  God,  and  become^  a  joint 
heir  with  Jesus  Christ!  I  consider  the  thought  heaven- 
born  that  caused  a  tent  to  be  erected  for  worship  in  the 
summer  season.  The  poor  sinner  will  be  drawn  into  it 
when  you  could  not  persuade  him  to  enter  a  church. 
In  my  own  case,  for  instance,  I  had  heard  of  the 
great  revival  going  on  in  Jayne's  Hall,  in  the  engine 
and  hose  companies,  and  almost  in  every  part  of 
the  city,  and  yet  never  visited  any  of  these  places,  with 
the  exception  of  once  going  into  Jayne's  Hall  and 
staying  about  five  minutes.  But,  loitering  about  one 
evening,  thinking  of  any  thing  but  religion,  I  entered 
the  tent;  a*id  I,  who  had  scarcely  been  in  a  church  for 
the  last  fifteen  years,  became  aware  that  there  was  some- 
thing else  than  earthly  pleasures, — that  there  was  a  God 
to  fear,  a  Saviour  to  love,  and  an  inheritance  in  heaven 
for  all  who  believe  in  him  and  follow  in  his  footsteps." 

Conversion  of  a  Gambler. — Among  others  who 
found  their  way  to  the  tent  one  evening  was  a  man 
who  had  long  been  addicted  to  intoxication :  so  com- 
pletely, also,  was  he  infatuated  with  the  excitement  of 
gambling,  that  whole  days  and  nights  were  spent  by 


'24  THE   WORK   OF   GOD   IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

him  in  this  miserable  employment.  On  one  occasion 
he  had  gone  so  far  as  to  play  a  game  of  cards  on  the 
"  cooling-board"  on  which  was  lying  the  corpse  of  his 
own  sister.  But  even  this  man  was  not  beyond  the 
reach  of  the  arm  that  is  mighty  to  save !  He  whose 
name  is  "  Jesus/'  because  he  saves  his  people  from  their 
sins,  has  saved  him  from  gambling,  and  he  is  now  an 
industrious  man, — saved  him  from  intemperance,  and 
now  he  is  a  sober  man,  a  good  citizen,  and  a  consistent 
Christian. 

Conversion  op  a  Tavern-Keeper — Striking  into  a 
New  Path. — A  man  who  had  been  brought  up  in  a 
country  tavern  from  the  time  he  was  three  years  of 
age, — who  had  always  been  in  the  habit  of  using  liquor, 
often  td  excess, — stepped  into  the  tent  one  afternoon, 
out  of  mere  curiosity.  Finding  that  they  were  holding 
a  temperance-meeting  for  boys,  he  thought  he  would 
hear  what  they  had  to  say.  "  For  the  first  time  in  my 
life,"  said  he,  "  I  felt  that  I  was  a  sinner,  and  fast  hasten- 
ing to  a  drunkard's  grave.  At  the  close  of  the  services, 
hearing  them  offer  to  every  boy  who  signed  the  pledge 
a  New  Testament,  I  determined  then  and  there  to  strike 
into  a  new  path.  I  rose  from  my  seat,  went  forward  to 
the  desk,  asked  them  to  let  me  sign  the  pledge,  and 
give  me  a  Testament.  After  this,  feeling  that  I  had 
taken  one  right  step,  I  resolved  to  go  forward ;  and,  re- 
turning home,  I  prayed  to  God  for  pardon  ujitil  I  found 
it  in  Jesus  Christ.  My  father  and  almost  our  whole 
family  are  now  converted.  We  have  given  up  tavern- 
keeping,  and  gone  to  farming,  happier  and  more  pros- 
perous in  every  way  than  when  engaged  in  selling  rum." 

Conversion  of  a  German. — "God  has  many  times 
called  me  to  repentance,  so  that  I  have  even  been  led 
to  pray  for  a  new  heart  and  the  forgiveness  of  my  sins. 
But  then  Satan  would  follow  me  up  closely,  and  try  to 
make  me  believe  that  I  was  good  enough  to  go  to  hea- 


THE   WORK   OF   GOD   IN   PHILADELPHIA.  25 

ven, — that  I  was  not  as  bad  as  others, — that  to  go  to 
church  once  a  Sunday,  and  be  honest  and  charitable,  &c. 
was  all  that  was  necessary.     This  did  not  satisfy  me, 
however.     I  felt  something  more  was  necessary  than 
mere  formality.     So  I  tried  to  servo  God  and  mammon 
together, — to  please  God  in  some  way  or  other,  but  at 
the  same  time  not  give  up  the  world.     Thus  both  my- 
self and  my  wife  grew  colder  and  colder,  until  suddenly 
God  took  away  our  only  child.     Feeling  this  to  be  an- 
other call  to  leave  the  world,  we  determined  to  seek 
Christ,  that  we  might  go  to  that  happy  place  where  our 
dear  child  had  gone  to ;  but  we  did  not  realize  our  deter- 
mination.    After  this  I  entered  into  business,  with  great 
prospects  of  success;  but  again  we  saw  the  finger  of 
God,  and  we  lost  almost  every  thing  we  had.     Thank 
God  that  we  did  not  prosper,  or  we  might  have  been 
lost   forever.     Again,   therefore,  we   sought   the   Lord 
more  earnestly  than  before,  but,  oh,  we  gave  way  again. 
So  God  took  away  another  child,  just  as  dear  to  us  as 
the  first;  but  another  call  and  another  determination 
resulted  no  better  than  the  others.     It  was  necessary 
that  we  should  be  afflicted  still  more.     A  third  child 
died, — then  a  beloved  mother, — then  I  was  brought  to 
the  verge  of  the  grave  myself.     But,  thank  God,  he 
saved  my  life  that  he  might  save  my  soul.     After  going 
on  in  this  miserable  way  year  after  year,  at  length  the 
Tent  came.     Never  did  I  feel  the  call  of  God  so  much, 
so  strong,  so  earnestly,  as  there.     Never  before  did  1 
hear  the  plan  of  salvation  laid  down  so  simply,  so  dis- 
tinctly, and  with  so  much  warmth  and  earnestness,  as 
by  the  different  servants  of  God  who  preached  there. 
Each  invitation  seemed  to  be  the  last  that  we  should 
ever  receive,  and  we  felt  that  it  was  now  or  never.   .  .  . 
Thus  has  this  blessed  union  tent  been  the  means  of 
bringing  me,  my  dear  wife  and  dear  brother,  to  our 
blessed  Eedeemer !,; 

3 


26  THE   WORK   OF    GOD   IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

Conversion  of  a  Teamster. — Having  heard  that  the 
tent  was  to  be  removed  to  a  new  locality,  he  went  to  the 
superintendent  and  asked  the  privilege  of  hauling  it, 
free  of  charge,  both  now  and  whenever  in  future  it  was 
to  be  moved.  As  he  "  had  there  been  born  again/'  he 
wished  thus  to  show  his  gratitude. 

The  closing  services  of  the  tent  in  each  of  the  locali- 
ties where  it  has  been  pitched  have  been  solemn  and 
affecting  in  the  extreme.  No  better  description  can  we 
give  than  this :  that  it  was  as  if  the  good  and  great 
Physician  himself  had  been  visibly  present  before  the 
multitude,  and  was  about  to  take  his  final  departure, 
leaving  many  still  unhealed.  The  grief  that  is  some- 
times witnessed  on  a  funeral  occasion  is  the  only  com- 
parison that  will  at  all  do  justice  to  the  overwhelming 
sorrow  and  distress  of  those  to  whom  the  "tent"  had 
been  their  only  gospel-home,  and  who  felt  as  if  the  call 
was,  "  Come  now  to  Christ,  or  you  will  never  come,  and 
be  lost  forever!" 

Thus  it  wras  on  the  removal  of  the  tent  from  Broad 
Street.  Up  to  this  time,  its  location  had  only  been 
changed  from  one  portion  of  the  city  to  another,  and 
was  still  accessible ;  but  now  that  the  candlestick  was 
to  be  removed  out  of  its  place,  men  "  heard  as  for  their 
lives."  Those  who  had  hitherto  been  negligent  of  the 
invitations  of  the  gospel  were  now  made  to  feel  the 
power  of  its  Sanctions.  Especially  during  the  closing 
address,  it  seemed  to  us  as  if  we  were  in  the  midst  of 
falling  thunderbolts.  Nearly  a  hundred  rose  for  prayer; 
many  remained  in  the  tent,  and  could  scarcely  be  per- 
suaded to  leave  it  at  eleven  o'clock;  and  the  inquiry- 
meeting  the  next  day  at  a  private  house,  so  far  as  the 
distress  of  sinners  was  concerned,  was  Pentecost  over 
again.  For  a  time,  praying,  singing,  or  speaking  were 
equally  out  of  the  question;  and  if  ever  the  servants  of 
Christ  needed  the  tongue  of  the  learned  to  speak  a  word 


THE    WORK    OF   GOD    IN    PHILADELPHIA.  27 

in  season  to  those  that  were  weary,  it  was  at  that  house 
in  Fifteenth  Street. 

Still  more  remarkable  was  the  history  of  the  last  day 
of  the  tent  in  Quakertown.  Strictly  speaking,  the  "Can- 
vas Church"  was  not  a  new  idea,  but  one  that  had  been 
gradually  developing  itself  through  a  series  of  years. 
The  real  germ  of  it  is  to  be  found  in  a  "portable  pulpit" 
used  in  his  missionary-tour  by  the  same  brother  who 
afterwards  projected  the  "Union  Tabernacle,"  and  who 
has  thus  far  so  successfully  superintended  its  operations. 
Originally  the  tent  was  designed  for  the  country,  to  be 
used  for  preaching,  just  as  the  "big  tent"  had  been  em- 
ployed in  this  State  in  1855  for  Temperance.  Some  of 
the  heaviest  contributors  towards  it  resided  in  the  coun- 
try; and  the  understanding  was  that,  after  it  had  ac- 
complished its  mission  for  the  time  in  the  city,  it  might 
be  removed  into  various  counties  in  the  State  where  the 
providence  of  God  would  indicate, — particularly  among 
the  Germans. 

The  first  place  where  it  was  pitched  after  leaving  the 
city  was  Quakertown,  a  village  of  some  five  hundred 
inhabitants, — thrifty,  industrious,  intelligent,  but  where, 
with  the  exception  of  a  Friends'  (Hicksite)  meeting- 
house on  the  outskirts,  there  was  no  church,  and  where, 
until  recently,  such  a  thing  as  a  public  prayer-meeting 
has  never  been  known.  A  field  more  unpromising  into 
which  to  introduce  evangelical  truth  it  is  very  difficult 
to  imagine.  The  opposition  was  characteristic.  "The 
tent  is  a  trap  to  make  money,"  they  said;  and  several 
days  elapsed  before  the  people  could  be  persuaded  other- 
wise. Even  those  who  stood  around  the  doors  ventured 
in  only  after  the  strongest  assurances  and  the  most 
urgent  and  repeated  invitations.  But  this,  as  it  after- 
wards appeared,  was  only  for  the  trial  of  our  faith.  The 
earnest,  heartfelt  petitions  of  the  noon  prayer-meeting 
in  Jayne's  Hall,  offered  daily  for  the  success  of  the  Union 


28       THE  WORK  OF  GOD  IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

Tabernacle  in  its  new  field  of  operations,  entered  into 
the  ear  of  the  God  of  Sabaoth.  Israel  prevails  against 
Amalek.  The  walls  of  Jericho  fall  down  before  the  ark 
of  the  Covenant.  The  same  gospel  that,  at  the  begin- 
ning, went  forth  "conquering  and  to  conquer" — that 
triumphed  over  Judaism  in  Jerusalem,  philosophy  in 
Athens,  sensuality  in  Corinth,  barbarism  in  Melita, 
idolatry  at  Eome,  and  worldliness  in  Philadelphia — was 
also  destined  to  gain  no  insignificant  triumph  in  this  little 
village  of  Quakertown. 

After  nine  days  of  preaching,  during  which  "the  word 
of  the  Lord  grew  mightily  and  prevailed,"  it  was  deter- 
mined, according  to  previous  arrangement,  to  strike  the 
tent  on  the  6th  of  October.  At  2  p.m.  of  that  day,  while 
engaged  in  public  worship,  the  congregation  were  sud- 
denly interrupted  by  a  burst  of  youthful  voices,  singing 
the  hymn, — 

"  How  pleasant  thus  to  dwell  below, 
In  fellowship  of  love ! 
And,  though  we  part,  'tis  bliss  to  know 
The  good  shall  meet  above,"  &c. 

and  ending  each  verse  with  the  chorus, — 

"  Oh,  that  will  be  joyful ! 
To  meet,  to  part  no  more, 
On  Canaan's  happy  shore ; 
And  sing  the  everlasting  song 
With  those  who've  gone  before." 

Thus  singing,  round  and  round  the  tent  the  children 
marched,  bearing  in  front  of  them  a  beautiful  banner, 
garlanded  with  fresh  and  fragrant  flowers,  with  the 
motto,  ""VYe  love  him,  because  he  first  loved  us." 
As  may  be  imagined,  both  tne  speaker  and  the  audience 
were  much  affected  by  this  unlooked-for  testimony  of 
the  new  Sunday-school  children  to  the  good  that  had 
been  wrought  in  the  tent  during  the  time  that  it  was 


THE   WORK   OF   GOD   IN   PHILADELPHIA.  29 

pitched  in  their  village;  and,  as  the  words  "part  no 
more,"  "part  no  more,"  were  echoed  and  re-echoed 
through  the  tent,  no  doubt  they  thought  of  the  time 
when  Jesus  made  his  triumphant  entry  into  Jerusalem, 
and  the  children  echoed  through  the  temple,  "Hosanna, 
hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David!"  At  the  close  of  the 
services,  the  little  singers  presented  as  a  token  of  their 
gratitude  four  magnificent  wreaths, — "  a  perishable  me- 
morial of  good  imperishable."  What  added  still  further 
to  the  value  of  these  wreaths  was  the  fact  that  they 
were  woven  by  the  young  men  and  young  women  who 
had  been  converted  in  the  tent,  and  who,  all  the  while 
that  they  were  weaving  them,  were  singing  and  praying 
for  the  future  success  of  the  tent  in  its  mission  of  truth 
and  love. 

But  it  was  at  the  close  of  the  evening  service  that 
"the  fountains  of  the  great  deep  were  broken  up." 
"You  saw,"  says  an  eye-witness,  "the  closing  services 
of  the  tent  in  Philadelphia,  and  know  their  character; 
but  there  is  no  comparison  between  the  scene  in  Phila- 
delphia and  at  Quakertown.  The  latter  beggars  all 
description.  Would  that  I  could  paint  such  a  picture  as 
was  given  that  night  by  the  recording-angel  before  the 
throne  of  God !  To  my  own  mind,  it  appeared  more 
like  the  evening  after  a  day  of  battle  than  any  thing 
else  I  could  think  of.  There  were  those  who  were  re- 
joicing in  the  victory  that  had  been  achieved  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord.  There,  those  who,  with  tears  of 
gratitude  in  their  eyes,  pressed  forward  to  thank  the 
Captain  of  Salvation  for  their  deliverance  from  the  cap- 
tivity of  Satan.  There,  too,  in  little  groups,  were  gath- 
ered the  wounded  in  spirit  and  the  sorrowing  in  heart, 
with  the  ministers  and  Christians  belonging  to  various 
branches  of  the  church  of  our  Lord  standing  in  the 
midst  of  them  and  pointing  to  the  great  Physician  of 
souls,  i  by  whose  stripes  we  arc  healed/ 

3* 


30  THE    WORK    OF   GOD   IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

"It  was  eleven  o'clock  p.m.  before  the  people  left  the 
tent,  and  then  only  to  assemble  in  two  different  houses 
— the  English  in  one  and  the  Germans  in  the  other — for 
personal  conversation  and  prayer.  There  were  seen, 
kneeling  side  by  side  in  the  same  row,  a  mother,  a  son, 
and  a  daughter;  a  young  married  lady,  her  husband, 
her  mother,  two  brothers,  and  two  sisters  !  And,  in  the 
other  house,  a  father,  mother,  four  adult  sons,  and  a 
daughter, — constituting,  with  the  exception  of  a  little 
child,  the  entire  family. 

"  The  scene  at  the  German  meeting  was  such  a  one  as 
has  been  very  seldom  witnessed.  Filling  the  front-room, 
the  back-room,  the  entry,  the  staircase,  the  porch,  and 
some  of  them  standing  out  of  doors,  were  more  than  a 
hundred  persons,  putting  the  earnest  inquiry,  '  What 
must  I  do  to  be  saved  V 

"We  continued  talking  and  praying  with  them  until 
midnight;  and  then,  oh,  how  hard  it  was  to  say  fare- 
well !  '  Don't  leave  us  until  we  find  Jesus  !'  exclaimed 
one,  in  the  agony  of  her  heart;  and  such  seemed  to  be 
the  feeling  among  them  all.  It  was  not  until  two  o'clock 
in  the  morning  that  the  last  inquirer  had  left  the  house, 
and  we  found  an  opportunity  to  pour  out  our  gratitude 
to  God  for  the  wonders  he  had  this  dav  wrought." 

That  all  this  was  not  mere  temporary  excitement  is 
evident  from  the  fact  that,  immediately  on  the  tent 
being  taken  down,  eleven  of  the  prominent  men  of  the 
village,  representing  six  different  denominations,  organ- 
ized themselves  into  a  committee,  and,  on  the  very 
same  lot  of  ground  on  which  the  tent  had  been  pitched, 
erected  a  Winter  Tabernacle,  eighty-five  by  sixty  feet, 
which  was  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  Almighty  God, 
with  appropriate  services,  November  7,  1858.  They 
present  the  singular  spectacle  of  a  little  community 
who,  by  the  simple  preaching  of  the  gospel,  are  only 
Christians,  and  nothing  more;  and  who,  while  they  love 


THE   WORK   OF   GOD    IN   PHILADELPHIA.  31 

i 

those  of  every  name  who  preach  Jesus  Christ  and  him 
crucified,  and  give  them  a  cordial  welcome,  have  no  dis- 
tinctive name  of  their  own.  The  interest  awakened 
on  their  behalf  is  intense ;  and  we  do  most  earnestly 
entreat  of  every  Christian  brother  and  sister  into  whose 
hands  these  pages  may  fall  that  they  would  remember 
in  their  prayers  the  little  community  of  disciples  at 
Quakertown.  As  yet  the  seamless  robe  has  not  been 
rent.  God  grant  by  his  Spirit  and  his  Providence  that 
it  may  continue  whole ! 

Interesting,  however,  as  is  the  history  of  the  work  of 
God  in  connection  with  the  "  Tent/'  there  is  another 
chapter  in  "Union  Missions"  which,  in  some  respects,  at 
least,  is  still  more  remarkable.  About  the  same  time 
that  services  were  commenced  in  the  Tabernacle,  a  very 
deep  and  unusual  interest  began  to  be  manifested  by 
many  Christians  on  behalf  of  the  Firemen  of  Phila- 
delphia. Numbering  nearly  a  hundred  companies,  and 
enrolling  on  their  lists  thousands  of  members,  active 
and  contributing,  owning  for  the  most  part  their  own 
engine  and  hose  houses,  and  composed  principally  of 
young  men  in  the  very  prime  of  life,  it  was  easy  to  see 
why  they  too  should  be  made  the  subjects  of  earnest 
prayer.  The  ties  of  grace,  like  those  of  nature,  are  not- 
to  be  restricted  within  temporary  and  artificial  limits. 
A  son  is  a  son,  a  brother  a  brother,  a  husband  a  hus- 
band, no  matter  what  the  association  with  which  he  may 
be  identified.  Hence,  at  a  very  early  period  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  revival,  sermons  were  delivered  in  churches 
and  halls  to  the  firemen ;  and  in  the  various  "  Union 
Meetings"  special  prayer  was  made  for  their  conversion. 
At  length  the  subject  was  taken  up  by  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association;  and  it  was  resolved,  after  due  de- 
liberation, to  commence  a  series  of  "Firemen's  Prayer- 
Meetings."  "Firemen's  prayer-meetings!"  said  one: 
11  who  ever  dreamed  of  such  a  thing?"     And  yet,  wild 


32  THE    WORK    OF   GOD   IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

and  Quixotic  as  it  seemed  in  the  first  instance,  the 
movement  has  abundantly  manifested  itself  as  of  the 
Lord. 

Scarcely  had  the  resolution  been  adopted,  when  a 
hose-company  came  forward  and  offered  the  use  of  their 
hall  for  a  prayer-meeting,  even  before  any  application 
had  been  made  to  them  for  this  purpose.  The  offer  was 
promptly  accepted,  and  the  meeting  commenced :  at 
first  with  only  a  few  in  attendance,  but  afterwards,  as 
the  result  of  personal  effort  with  the  members  of  the 
company,  with  many  more. 

"At  the  first  firemen's  prayer-meeting,"  said  a  brother, 
"I  saw  a  young  man  whom  I  was  accustomed  to  meet 
daily  elsewhere.  It  appeared  my  duty  to  speak  to  him 
about  his  soul.  I  did  so  next  day,  and  found  him  an  at- 
tentive hearer.  I  followed  up  the  conversation  by  a  let- 
ter, setting  before  him  the  finished  work  of  Christ  for 
him,  and  the  claims  of  Christ  upon  him,  in  just  such  a 
simple  form  as  I  hoped  might  be  blessed  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  A  few  days  after,  I  went  to  see  him ;  but,  with- 
out any  apparent  desire  to  avoid  the  claims  of  Christ 
upon  him  for  his  love  and  obedience,  he  seemed  to  think 
that  his  '  coming  to  Christ'  must  be  a  progressive  work. 
I  preached  to  him  a  present  Jesus,  able  to  save,  willing 
to  save,  and  to  save  him  now!  At  the  close  of  the  con- 
versation, in  answer  to  a  proposal  to  meet  me  at  the 
throne  of  grace  that  night  at  ten  o'clock,  he  at  his 
house  and  I  at  mine,  he  replied,  '  I  never  prayed  in  my 
life :  I  know  not  how  to  pray/  Showing  him  from  the 
parable  of  the  Pharisee  and  Publican  what  prayer  was, 
he  promised,  with  a  full  heart,  to  comply  with  my  re- 
quest. At  noon,  I  went  to  one  of  our  smaller  union 
meetings  and  presented  his  case  these.  In  the  evening, 
I  did  the  same  thing  at  our  own  church  prayer-meeting, 
and  suggested  to  all  who  would  feel  it  a  privilege  so  to 
do  to  unite  at  the  hour  of  ten  o'clock  in  one  supplication 


THE   WORK    OF   OOD    IN    PHILADELPHIA.  33 

for  thai  young  man.  The  hour,  I  have  reason  to  behove, 
wae  well  observed.  The  next  morning,  about  ten  o'clock, 
I  saw  him  approaching  me  in  the  street  Grasping  me 
cordially  by  the  hand,  the  tears  pouring  down  his  cheeks, 
and  his  voice  almost  choked  by  emotion,  he  exclaimed, 
1  God  blessed  my  soul  last  night,  while  I  waited  before 
him !'  .  .  .  Several  months  have  now  elapsed,  and  he  is 
still  an  humble  and  consistent  follower  of  Jesus  Christ." 

Encouraged  by  the  success  of  the  first  prayer-meet- 
ing, a  second  was  soon  opened  in  another  company;  and 
here,  too,  the  blessing  of  God  was  almost  immediately 
apparent, — so  much  so  that,  on  the  24th  of  March,  one 
of  its  members  presented  himself  in  Jayne's  Hall,  and 
bore  the  following  testimony  to  what  God  had  done  for 
his  soul : — 

'♦I  am  a  poor  fireman.  I  never  spoke  before  on  any  oc- 
casion; and  I  want  you  to  pray  for  me  now,  that  I  may 
do  what  I  promised  God  I  would  do  almost  the  very 
moment  I  found  peace  to  my  soul.  I  attended  the  first 
prayer-meeting  held  in  our  hose-house,  and  there  my 
feelings  were  deeply  aroused.  I  felt  I  was  a  sinner.  I 
knew  I  had  no  interest  in  my  Saviour.  But  I  felt  that 
I  wanted  an  interest  in  him;  and  before  I  left  that  room 
I  resolved,  with  the  help  of  God,  from  that  night  that  I 
would  forsake  all  my  evil  ways  and  try  to  serve  God  all 
the  remainder  of  my  life.  Just  before  I  made  this  re- 
solve, many  things  came  into  my  mind.  I  had  one  par- 
ticular associate, — one  in  whose  company  I  always  felt 
happy.  AVe  always  went  together,  and  I  loved  him. 
Thoughts  of  this  kind  came  up :  Could  I  quit  his  com- 
pany ?  I  knew  I  would  have  to  as  an  associate.  I  knew 
I  would  have  to  give  up  all  my  old  companions  as  asso- 
ciates, and  I  thank  God  that  I  felt  that  I  could  not 
leave  that  room  that  night  without  making  the  resolve 
to  do  so. 

"As  I  sat  and  heard  the  different  brothers  exhort 
C 


3-1  THE    WORK    OF    GOD    IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

and  offer  prayer,  I  felt  that  I  would  like  to  become  a 
Christian  too.  I  thought  that  they  must  be  really 
happy,  and  from  that  night  I  commenced  to  pray  God 
to  make  me  a  Christian.  I  was  out  of  employment  at 
that  time,  and  through  the  day  I  would  go  up  in  my 
room  and  shut  myself  in.  I  would  then  take  the  Bible 
and  read  two  or  three  chapters,  and  afterwards  kneel 
down  and  pray.  I  went  on  so  for  about  two  weeks,  at 
least  seven  or  eight  times  a  day,  but  still  I  could  not 
find  the  Saviour.  I  commenced  getting  discouraged.  I 
had  heard  that  the  Holy  Spirit  would  not  always  strive 
with  man,  and  I  began  to  feel  alarmed.  I  would  sit  in 
my  room  and  try  to  make  solemn  thoughts.  I  thought 
if  I  could  get  solemn  then  I  could  get  on  my  knees  and 
pray  to  God.  I  would  try  to  think  on  God  and  then  on 
hell;  but  I  could  not  get  the  feeling  I  wanted.  I  felt  as 
if  I  wanted  some  instruction.  I  could  not  pray  aright. 
I  determined  therefore  at  one  of  the  meetings  in  our 
hose-house  to  ask  one  of  our  brothers  what  I  must  do 
to  become  a  Christian.  After  the  meeting  was  over,  I 
followed  a  brother  to  the  corner :  I  then  stopped  him 
and  told  him  I  would  like  to  become  a  Christian.  I  told 
him  I  had  endeavoured  to  pray,  but  I  could  not  pray 
feelingly.  He  invited  me  to  come  to  the  church  where 
he  attended.  I  did  so,  and  was  there  introduced  to  one 
of  the  members,  who  asked  me  to  call  and  see  him  the 
next  day.  I  was  very  glad  of  the  opportunity,  but  I 
could  not  get  off  from  my  business,  as  we  were  then  much 
hurried.  During  the  week  I  felt  very  uneasy,  so  much 
so  that  I  could  not  wait  any  longer:  so  I  quit  my  work, 
and  went  to  see  the  brother  who  had  invited  me.  When 
I  went  to  see  him,  I  was  very  anxious,  but  when  I  left 
his  place,  I  must  confess  that  it  was  with  joy.  The  way  to 
be  saved  appeared  so  clear  and  simple  that  I  could  not 
restrain  my  rapture.  He  clearly  showed  me  that  I 
could  not  come  to  God  with  any  merits  of  my  own ;  that 


THE  WORK   OF  GOD   IN   PHILADELPHIA.  35 

none  of  my  works  wore  of  any  avail ;  that  I  was  not  to  try 
to  make  myself  righteous,  but  that  I  should  go  to  Christ 
'just  as  I  am/  with  all  my  sins,  with  all  my  unfeeling- 
ness,  looking  away  from  myself,  and  asking  God  to  have 
mercy  upon  me  only  for  the  sake  of  Jesus  Christ!  That 
night  I  went  home  with  joy,  and  when  I  went  to  my 
prayers  I  did  go  different  from  any  time  in  my  life.  I 
prayed  without  waiting  to  get  feeling.  After  I  had  done 
praying,  and  got  up  off  my  knees,  I  did  not  feel  that 
God  had  blessed  me.  But  some  ten  or  fifteen  minutes 
after  I  had  got  in  bed,  there  was  one  of  the  happiest 
feelings  I  ever  had  in  my  life.  I  was  so  really  happy 
that  I  was  going  to  wake  my  bed-fellow,  to  tell  him  how 
happy  I  was.  But  I  thought  he  would  not  know  what  I 
meant.  I  must  have  gone  to  sleep  in  this  happiness,  for 
in  the  morning  my  heart  was  full,  and  I  could  not  rest 
until  I  told  all  my  people  and  all  my  associates  what 
God  had  done  for  my  soul.  Oh,  pray  for  me  and  for  all 
the  firemen,  for  greatly  do  we  need  your  prayers." 

We  are  happy  to  add  that  this  testimony  was  not 
given  in  vain,  but  that  his  "  bed-fellow/'  and  more  than 
one  of  his  associates,  were  soon  found  walking  with  him 
in  the  ways  of  righteousness,  as  once  they  had  walked 
in  the  ways  of  sin. 

Here  is  the  testimony  of  one  of  them  given  one  Satur- 
day evening  at  a  young  men's  prayer-meeting: — 

"  I  feel  as  though  I  wanted  to  say  something  to  this 
meeting,  and  yet  I  don't  know  hardly  what  to  say.  My 
heart  is  full. 

"I  was  thinking  to-night,  on  coming  to  this  meeting, 
on  passing  a  house  where  I  used  to  pass  my  Saturday 
nights,  why  I  didn't  care  to  spend  them  there  any  more. 
I  know  I  don't,  and  that  I  feel  a  great  deal  better  to  be 
here. 

"  A  little  thing  happened  to  me  the  other  night  down 
at  the  hose-house.     I  was  thinking  whether  I  could  be 


36  THE    WORK   OF   GOD   IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

as  good  a  fireman  since  my  conversion  as  before,  and  I 
find  I  can  be  a  better  one.  I  bunk  at  the  hose-house,  and 
of  late  I  have  been  sleeping  in  the  meeting-room ;  for 
[and  here  his  voice  faltered]  I  feel  that  in  that  room  I 
was  born  again,  and  I  love  that  room.  "Well,  we  are  having 
some  repairs  done  to  our  house,  and  the  other  night  the 
company  had  to  turn  into  the  meeting-room  to  sleep  too, 
as  the  bunk-room  was  upside  down.  When  my  bedtime 
came,  there  were  quite  a  number  of  the  company  in  the 
room.  Now,  I  am  in  the  habit  of  reading  a  chapter  in 
my  Testament,  and  of  offering  up  a  prayer  to  God,  before 
I  go  to  bed.  I  felt  that  I  couldn't  go  to  sleep  until  I  had 
done  that;  but  somehow  I  felt  a  little  backward  there, 
for  I  was  afraid  that  they  would  laugh  and  jeer  at  me. 
Still,  I  thought  that  it  had  got  to  be  done.  So  I  went  up 
to  the  desk,  turned  the  gas  on  a  little  brighter,  opened 
my  Testament,  and  began  to  read.  It  was  in  Matthew, 
a  very  interesting  chapter,  all  about  Judas  Iscariot 
betraying  his  Master,  and  how  sorry  he  was  for  it  after- 
wards. This  made  me  determine  not  to  betray  him. 
But,  while  I  was  reading,  every  man  of  the  company 
kept  as  quiet  and  orderly  as  could  be. 

"  After  I  had  got  through  reading,  I  went  to  my  set- 
tee, and  surely,  I  thought,  they  would  have  something  to 
say  when  they  saw  me  on  my  knees  in  prayer.  But  I 
got  down  first  on  one  knee  and  then  on  another,  and — 
would  you  believe  it  ? — there  wasn't  a  noise  or  a  remark 
made.  Whilst  I  was  so  engaged,  you  might  have  heard 
a  pin  drop  all  through  the  room,  and  when  I  was 
through,  I  lay  down  and  went  to  sleep,  with  a  smile  on 
my  lips;  and  it  wTas  the  happiest  night  in  all  my  life. 

"Now,  I  want  to  say  to  any  young  man  in  this  room, 
to-night,  if  there  is  any  one  here  who  is  afraid  to  come 
out  and  Stand  up  for  Jesus,  for  fear  of  your  companions 
laughing  at  you  or  making  fun  of  you,  it  is  a  foolish 
feeling.     I  tell  you,  if  there  is  any  laughing,  or  jeering, 


THE    WORK    OP   GOD   IN    PHILADELPHIA.  37 

or  scoffing  going  on,  you  will  not  find  it  among  firemen; 
and  I  tell  you,  too,  that  they  respect  mo  to-day  more 
than  they  ever  did  when  I  was  not  a  Christian." 

On  the  25th  of  April,  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  influ- 
ential companies  in  the  city  threw  open  their  hall  for  a 
daily  prayer-meeting.  The  hall,  being  unusually  large, 
well  furnished,  and  in  a  central  location,  became  at  once 
a  rallying-point  not  only  for  firemen,  but  for  their 
mothers  and  sisters,  for  strangers,  and  for  Christians 
generally.  Perhaps,  next  to  Jayne's  Hall  and  the  "  Union 
Tabernacle,"  the  history  of  the  "Diligent"  meeting  con- 
stitutes one  of  the  most  remarkable  features  in  the  whole 
revival.  To  see  a  few  praying  young  men  enter  the 
hall  of  a  company  in  which,  up  to  that  time,  of  its  active 
members  there  was  not  a  single  member  of  the  church 
of  Christ;  to  see  these  young  men  conciliated,  interested, 
and  prevailed  upon  to  attend  the  meetings ;  to  see  one 
after  another,  under  the  striving  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  rise 
in  their  places,  and  thus  express  their  desires  that  the 
people  of  God  should  remember  them  in  prayer;  to  see 
day  after  day  those  of  them  who  had  resolved  "to  cease 
to  do  evil"  and  "  learn  to  do  well"  coming  out  on  the 
Lord's  side,  and  professing  their  determination  to  "Stand 
up  for  Jesus;"  eventually  to  see  this  very  prayer-meeting 
conducted  by  the  members  of  the  company  and  sustained 
by  their  prayers  and  exhortations, — was  a  sight  which, 
considering  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  the  age  of 
these  young  men,  their  previous  history,  and  their  pecu- 
liar temptations,  has  never  known  a  parallel  in  our  city. 

Instead  of  general  description,  however,  we  submit  a 
few  extracts  from  the  reports  of  the  committee  having 
the  meeting  in  charge: — 

"August  28. — The  meetings  during  the  past  week 
have  been  characterized  by  a  manifest  presence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  Never  have  we  witnessed  such  deep 
solemnity.     The   hall  has  been   filled  every  afternoon, 


38  THE    WORK    OF   GOD    IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

and  on  some  occasions  several  were  standing  in  the 
passage.  On  last  Sabbath  evening  at  an  early  hour  the 
room  was  full  to  overflowing.  Many  went  away  unable 
to  get  seats.  So  large  was  the  attendance,  it  was  thought 
best  to  start  another  meeting  in  one  of  the  upper  stories. 
This  second  meeting  numbered  over  a  hundred,  and  the 
voice  of  praise  and  prayer  and  exhortation  ascended 
and  mingled  together  in  these  two  rooms. 

"  Bequests  of  a  most  touching  nature  are  daily  offered 
and  made  the  subject  of  united  prayer.  One  of  these 
deserves  notice.  A  young  man  who  acknowledged  him- 
self in  the  request  as  being  present,  stated  therein  that 
he  had  no  hope  in  Jesus,  but  he  desired  the  prayers  of 
the  meeting  in  behalf  of  a  dear  sister,  who  was  also  with- 
out hope  in  the  Saviour,  and  fast  sinking  into  the  grave 
with  consumption.  His  desire  was  that  the  sister  might 
go  to  heaven  to  meet  Christian  parents  there.  A  most 
singular  instance  of  the  striving  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in 
the  hearts  of  poor  sinners  5  but,  we  may  add,  by  no 
means  a  solitary  instance.  The  confidence  of  the  impeni- 
tent in  the  power  of  prayer  has  not  unfrequently  been 
such  as  to  shame  Christians  themselves. 

"  September  4. — The  present  week  has  been  one  of 
remarkable  blessing.  On  Sabbath  evening,  long  before 
the  hour  arrived,  the  principal  hall  in  the  second  story 
was  filled.  The  room  in  the  third  story  was  also  filled. 
The  room  above,  in  the  fourth  story,  had  every  seat 
occupied,  the  passage  and  stairway  were  crowded  with 
anxious  listeners,  and  many  went  away  not  being  able 
to  obtain  seats.  In  the  second  story  there  was  present 
a  delegation  of  about  twenty-five  members  from  one 
company,  and  of  twenty  members  from  another.  Un- 
usual solemnity  and  earnestness  characterized  all  the 
meetings,  and  it  was  a  night  long  to  be  remembered. 

"Some  weeks  ago.  so  great  was  the  interest,  it  was 
thought  advisable  to  request  members  of  the  company 


THE    WORK    OF    GOD    IN    PHILADELPHIA.  39 

to  remain  after  the  dismissal  of  the  meeting,  to  spend  a 
short  season  in  prayer.  This  little  meeting,  held  at  the 
close  of  the  regular  meeting,  has  been  wonderfully 
blessed.  We  do  not  know  what  namo  to  give  it.  There 
is  no  formality  in  it.  A  brother  starts  a  hymn;  another 
follows  in  prayer,  and  another,  and  still  another.  It 
seems  like  the  gathering  of  the  disciples  after  the  death 
and  ascension  of  our  blessed  Master.  His  Spirit  is 
evidently  with  us,  and  our  earnest  prayer  is  that  he  may 
breathe  upon  us  more  and  more  every  day.  Truly,  God 
is  doing  great  things  for  his  people  !" 

One  of  these  supplemental  meetings  was  a  very 
remarkable  one;  but  we  do  not  feel  at  liberty  on  this 
account,  merely  because  it  teas  remarkable,  to  withhold 
the  testimony  of  brethren  in  relation  to  it.  Not  aiming 
to  work  out  any  theory  by  what  we  state,  we  desire  to 
be  as  far  from  suppression  on  the  one  hand  as  from 
exaggeration  on  the  other. 

"  When  we  came  out  of  the  meeting  in  the  second 
story,"  says  a  good  brother,  "  finding  that  they  were 
still  singing  in  the  fourth  story,  I,  with  several  others, 
went  up  there,  to  join  them  in  their  worship.  After 
prayer,  and  singing,  the  power  of  the  blessed  Spirit's 
influence  was  so  felt  in  that  room,  and  there  was  such  a 
heavenly  atmosphere  pervading  it,  that  every  heart  was 
filled  with  joy  unspeakable.  The  'baptism'  came  down 
indeed.  Such  a  season  of 'refreshing  from  the  presence 
of  the  Lord'  I  scarcely  ever  felt  before.  It  was  worth 
a  lifetime  of  trial  to  be  permitted  to  enjoy  it." 

The  tender,  devotional  spirit  of  these  meetings  has 
reminded  almost  all  who  entered  them,  of  the  "  upper 
room"  at  Jerusalem.  Earely  indeed  has  any  meeting 
passed  without  the  manifested  presence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit, — that  sweet  melting  of  heart  which  Christians  so 
well  know,  but  which  they  find  it  so  impossible  to 
describe.     Perhaps  no  better  representation  of  the  spirit 


40  THE    WORK   OF   GOD   IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

of  these  meetings  was  ever  given  than  in  the  remark  of 
a  lady,  that  "it  seemed  to  her  just  like  family  worship  V 
Certainly  the  facts  in  the  case  warrant  a  full  develop- 
ment of  the  idea.  The  people  of  God  accustomed  to 
assemble  there  have  felt  just  like  one  large  family,  and 
the  very  last  question  asked  in  reference  to  any  of  them 
is,  To  what  denomination  does  he  belong  ?  It  is  the 
family  name,  the  surname,  that  has  been  the  dearest  to 
them,  and  not  the  name  that  goes  before  it.  Most 
emphatically  have  they  all  been  one  in  Christ  Jesus. 

Some  of  the  scenes  that  have  been  there  witnessed 
have  been  thrilling  in  the  extreme.  About  the  first 
week  in  June,  when  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in 
the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  impenitent  was  a  fact  that 
admitted  and  received  no  contradiction,  a  prominent 
member  of  the  company  rose  to  thank  God  that  he  had 
found  peace  in  believing,  and  was  then  able  to  "  Stand 
up  for  Jesus"  and  confess  him  before  men.  Then,  turn- 
ing immediately  from  the  chairman  to  the  audience,  his 
eye  searching  every  part  of  the  room  as  if  to  find  some 
one  in  particular,  he  exclaimed,  with  an  earnestness  and 
tenderness  of  manner  that  melted  every  heart,  "And  I 
have  a  very  dear  friend  in  this  room,  a  member  of  this 
company;  I  don't  see  him  here,  but  I  am  sure  he  is 
here:  he  needs  Christ  as  much  as  I  do;  I  want  him,  I 
invite  him,  to  come  to  Christ  and  find  pardon. for  his 
sins  also !  Oh  that  all  would  come  I"  If  the  invitation 
was  not  accepted,  it  certainly  was  not  the  fault  of  him 
by  whom  it  was  extended. 

Among  the  various  collateral  incidents  connected  with 
this  circumstance,  perhaps  one  that  occurred  at  another 
engine-house,  the  Tuesday  evening  following,  may  be 
deemed  worthy  of  special  notice.  The  room  was  large, 
the  meeting  crowded,  and  the  firemen  in  attendance 
principally  down  by  the  door  and  standing  in  the  entry. 
One  of  the  speakers,  who  declared  that  the  firemen  for 


THE    WORK    OF   GOD   IN    PHILADELPHIA.  41 

tho  last  few  days  had  been  the  first  thought  in  the  morn- 
ing and  the  last  thought  at  night,  and  who  believed  that 
this  was  emphatically  the  firemen's  accepted  time  and 
the  day  of  their  salvation,  told  the  company  that,  by  the 
grace  of  God,  be  meant  to  speak  to  them  as  plainly  and 
affectionately  as  the  converted  fireman  who  had  the 
last  week  appealed  to  his  impenitent  companion.  "  I 
wish,"  said  he,  "  to  walk  down  this  aisle  to-night,  as 
Paul  did  through  the  streets  of  Corinth,  proclaiming  on 
the  right  hand  and  on  the  left,  that  'Christ  died  for  our 
sins/  Could  I  cause  all  your  sins  to  pass  before  you  in 
long  array,  or  place  you  in  the  midst  of  tho  falling 
thunderbolts  of  Sinai,  or  suspend  you  by  a  single  thread 
over  the  lake  of  fire,  this  would  not  suffice  to  bring  you 
to  repentance;  you  must  find  it  at  the  foot  of  the  cross; 
you  must  look  on  Him  who  died  thereon;  you  dare  not, 
cannot,  look  long  at  the  crucified  One  and  remain  un- 
moved. You  cannot  candidly  contemplate  the  thought 
that  you  have  never  thanked  Jesus  Christ  for  what  he 
has  done  to  save  your  soul,  and  deliberately  remain  his 
enemy  by  further  impenitence  and  unbelief." 

The  bow  was  drawn  at  a  venture,  but  the  arrow  sped 
home  to  the  heart  for  which  God  intended  it.  At  the 
close  of  the  meeting,  a  young  man,  with  his  face  buried 
in  his  hands,  and  sobbing  audibly,  presented  himself  as  a 
subject  of  prayer.  So  deeply  did  the  thought  of  his 
ingratitude  pierce  through  and  through  his  heart,  that 
for  some  time  after  the  meeting  was  over,  he  had 
scarcely  physical  strength  to  rise  from  his  seat  and 
leave  the  room.  That  night  he  found  his  way  as  an  in- 
quirer to  the  house  of  his  pastor;  and  the  next  day  at 
the  noon  prayer-meeting,  all  fear  of  man  thrown  aside, 
too  full  of  joy  to  restrain  its  manifestation,  his  grateful 
exclamation  was,  "Come,  all  ye  that  fear  God,  and  I  will 
declare  what  he  hath  done  for  my  soul  V 

This  confession  again,  in  its  turn,  was  the  means  of 


42  THE    WORK   OP    GOD   IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

bringing  out  another.  His  heart  was  too  full  more  than 
simply  to  arise  in  his  place  and  thank  God  "that  he  had 
heard  his  prayers."  We  asked  and  subsequently  ob- 
tained from  him  the  following  communication  : — 

"  On  sitting  down  to  write  out  my  religious  experi- 
ence, I  feel  a  prayerful  anxiety  that  I  ma}'  relate  only 
such  things  as  may  be  for  edification,  and  that  I  may 
be  kept  from  glorying  in  aught  save  the  cross  of  Christ. 
When,  however,  I  think  that  possibly  one  reader  of 
these  lines  may  be  encouraged  to  pray  without  ceasing, 
and  place  all  their  hope  upon  that  Saviour  who  has 
rescued  me  from  the  horrible  pit,  all  distaste  at  the  idea 
of  making  public  the  sacred  communings  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  with  my  own  soul  vanishes. 

"In  my  boyhood,  and  as  a  young  man,  I  was  gra- 
ciously restrained  from  open  immorality,  but  I  was  con- 
scious in  my  own  heart  of  being  utterly  vile  in  the  sight 
of  God,  and  often  sought  his  face  with  earnest  prayer. 
About  two  years  ago  I  took  part  in  a  Sunday-school; 
and  here  let  me  bear  my  testimony  to  the  blessed  effect 
of  this  kind  of  work  on  those  engaging  in  it,  and  en- 
courage every  young  person  to  enter  such  a  field  of  labour 
in  a  prayerful  spirit. 

"One  Saturday  night,  after  preparing  my  Sunday  les- 
son, I  knelt  in  prayer,  and,  ah !  how  well  I  remember 
that  sweet  opportunity !  my  whole  soul  seemed  poured 
out  before  Jesus,  that  he  would  wash  away  my  sins  and 
plead  my  cause  with  God.  It  seemed  to  me  I  never  had 
prayed  so  earnestly  before,  nor  ever  felt  so  anxious  to 
be  saved.  I  drew  near  unto  God,  and  he  seemed  to  draw 
near  unto  me.  I  felt  a  sweet  peace  come  over  my  soul 
while  praying,  and  then  a  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of 
glory  was  shed  abroad  in  my  heart,  and  I  knew  that 
my  Redeemer  had  borne  the  penalty  of  my  sins  on  the 
accursed  tree.  I  rose  from  my  knees  and  awakened  my 
dear  wife,  for  I  could  not  but  want  to  have  her  rejoice 


THE    WORK    OF    GOD    IN    PHILADELPHIA.  43 

with  mc  that  this  soul  that  was  dead  in  trespasses  and 
sins  had  come  to  life." 

Affecting  Appeal. — At  a  prayer-meeting  in  an  engine- 
company,  a  brother  rose  and  made  the  following  state- 
ment. "At  the  fire  which  recently  occurred  in  Market 
Street,  a  person  was  entirely  buried  beneath  the  ruins, 
with  the  exception  of  his  right  arm.  Attracted  by  his 
cries  for  relief,  a  fireman  descended  from  the  adjoining 
building  and  extricated  him.  Borne  off  upon  a  settee 
insensible,  he  did  not  learn  the  name  of  his  deliverer. 
On  subsequently  inquiring,  he  heard  that  the  friendly 
fireman  belonged  to  this  very  company  where  the  meet- 
ing is  to-night.  The  man  who  was  then  saved  now 
stands  before  you.  /  am  that  man,  and  I  stand  here  to 
thank  my  deliverer;  and,  as  the  best  way  of  which  I  can 
think  to  show  my  gratitude  to  him,  I  now  invite  him  to 
Jesus,  the  great  deliverer  of  the  soul."  The  subsequent 
interview  between  the  two  men  was  deeply  affecting. 
The  invitation  was  received  in  good  part  by  him  to 
whom  it  was  extended,  and  he  promised  that  his  soul 
should  no  longer  remain  uncared  for. 

Singular  Conversion. — On  one  of  the  hottest  even- 
ings in  July  we  attended  a  little  prayer-meeting  in  a 
hose-company,  which  was  of  great  interest  to  us.  At 
least  one-half  of  those  who  were  present  and  who  prayed 
and  exhorted  were  converted  firemen.  The  experience 
of  the  leader  on  taking  the  chair,  briefly  and  unpretend- 
ingly as  it  was  told,  made  upon  us  a  very  deep  impres- 
sion. "  No  man,"  said  he,  "  can  be  more  surprised  than 
I  to  find  myself  in  such  a  position.  You  all  know  me 
very  well,  who  I  am,  and  what  I  have  been.  [His  busi- 
ness was  to  supply  the  company  with  cigars  and  Sunday 
newspapers.]  One  Sunday,  I  was  sitting  in  my  shop 
reading  a  story  in  a  Sunday  newspaper.  It  was  called 
1  Truth  and  Honesty/  and  was  about  a  little  boy.  After 
reading  it,  I  felt  that  there  ivas  such  a  thing  as  truth,  and 


\ 
44  THE   WORK    OF   GOD   IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

that  it  was  better  to  do  right  than  to  do  wrong.  These  were 
the  feelings  that  first  brought  me  to  the  prayer-meet- 
ings ;  and  now  I  hope  I  know  what  it  is  to  believe  the 
truth  that  saves  the  soul."  We  called  with  him  after- 
wards at  his  house  to  see  that  paper.  We  found  that  he 
had  at  once  abandoned  his  business;  and  now,  as  we 
write,  the  very  paper  lies  before  us,  with  the  same  mark 
it  had  upon  it  when  he  drew  it  from  the  desk.  Many 
times  since  have  we  seen  that  strong  and  earnest  face  in 
prayer-meeting,  but  never  without  thinking  how  much 
more  God  is  able  and  willing  to  do  for  the  conversion 
of  sinners  than  his  people  are  to  ask  him  to  do  it.  If 
one  man  can  be  reached  at  a  time  so  unexpected  and 
by  an  instrumentality  so  apparently  insignificant  and 
insufficient,  why  not  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands 
more? 

Plain  Questions  and  Honest  Answers. — Disap- 
pointed one  evening  in  not  finding  any  members  of  the 
company  present  in  their  hall,  one  of  our  number,  leav- 
ing the  prayer-meeting,  went  down  into  the  room  be- 
low, where  most  of  the  members  were  assembled,  smok- 
ing and  talking  as  usual.  "  I  am  very  curious,"  said  he, 
"  to  know  just  what  you  firemen  think  on  the  subject 
of  religion.  You  have  just  as  much  right  to  your  opi- 
nion as  I  have  to  mine, — in  this  respect,  at  least,  that 
each  one  of  us  must  give  an  account  for  himself  unto 
God."  Perceiving  that  they  were  not  unwilling  he 
should  proceed,  but  rather  invited  further  inquiry, 
"What,  for  example,"  said  he,  "do  you  think  of  the 
Bible?"  "Well,"  said  one,  "I  believe  it.  G.,  don't 
you?"  G.  assenting,  the  same  seemed  to  be  the  case 
with  all,  until  at  length  one  remarked,  "  I  guess,  sir,  we 
all  believe  the  Bible,  and  that  them  that  don't  believe 
the  Bible  don't  come  this  way!"  "Another  question, 
then:  how  many  of  you  read  the  Bible?"  "Ah!  that  is 
another  question,"  said  the  first  spokesman.     "  Pardon 


THE    WORK    OF    GOD    IN    PHILADELPHIA.  45 

me,  however,  if  I  put  it:  when  did  you  read  the  Bible 
hist?"  " Not  since  I  was  home."  "And  you?"  "Not 
since  I  was  at  Sunday-school."  "And  you?"  No  an- 
swer. "Never  read  it  at  home  or  at  Sunday-school?" 
"  I  never  went  to  Sunday-school."  And  thus  the  con- 
versation continued,  until  many  similar  questions  had 
been  asked  and  answered.  Oh,  to  what  multitudes  of 
men  in  this  city — firemen  as  well  as  others — is  the  holy 
book  of  God  like  a  letter  still  unopened,  the  seal  still 
unbroken, — a  letter  still  unread,  though  it  comes  to  us 
bearing  the  image  and  the  superscription  of  the  King  of 
kings  himself!  How  large  a  portion  of  the  ungodliness 
which  we  set  down  to  the  account  of  infidelity  may  with 
much  greater  propriety  be  attributed  to  thoughtlessness! 

Swearing. — "Surely  there  is  hope  for  anybody  if 
such  a  one  as  I  can  be  received.  Why,  sir,  for  fifteen 
years  I  have  been  a  fireman ;  and  I  used  to  be  awfully 
profane, — so  much  so  that  I  would  scarcely  utter  five 
words  without  an  oath.  And  at  the  factory  where  I 
work  I  used  to  use  such  awfully  blasphemous  language 
that  the  men  before  now  have  actually  left  me  and 
gone  away  to  get  out  of  the  sound  of  my  voice.  If 
such  a  swearer  as  I  has  been  saved,  there  is  hope  for 
any!" 

How  to  stop  Swearing. — Said  another  fireman,  "God 
hears  prayer.  I  know  he  does.  I  can  prove  it  by  my 
own  experience.  I  was  a  dreadful  swearer;  and,  though 
ashamed  of  it,  and  oftentimes  resolved  to  give  it  up,  no 
sooner  was  my  resolution  made  than  I  would  go  away 
and  swear  worse  than  ever.  But  one  day,  after  I  began 
to  feel  how  wicked  it  was  to  take  the  name  of  God  in 
vain,  I  looked  to  Jesus  Christ  to  help  me.  And  he  has 
helped  me.  From  that  day  on  I  have  not  sworn  an 
oath,  nor  do  I  feel  any  desire  to  swear;  but  it  is  not  my- 
self, it  is  all  of  Christ,  that  I  have  been  able  to  achieve 
the  victory!" 


46  THE   WORK    OF    GOD    IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

"  No  Swearing,  Boys  I" — One  of  the  fire-companies, 
shortly  after  the  revival  commenced,  made  very  earnest 
efforts  to  stem  the  tide  of  profanity  which  had  formerly 
been  but  too  prevalent  among  them.  On  one  occasion, 
when  there  was  an  alarm  of  fire,  the  director,  taking 
the  lead  as  usual,  suddenly  wheeled  round  at  a  sound 
he  heard,  and  roared  through  the  trumpet,  with  a  voice 
of  thunder,  "ISTo  swearing  in  this  company,  boys  \" 
Strangely  did  those  words  sound  through  the  darkness 
of  the  night,  and  there  are  some  who  will  never  forget 
them.  We  trust  the  same  words  will  yet  sound  through 
many  trumpets  more. 

A  Sad  Purpose  Prevented. — "Well  may  I  thank 
God  for  that  firemen's  prayer-meeting,  and  acknowledge 
it,  too,  to  his  glory  and  my  own  shame !  For  many 
years  I  had  been  an  orphan.  I  had  just  lost  my  wife. 
Having  nothing  to  live  for,  the  sooner  I  got  out  of  the 
world,  it  appeared  to  me,  the  better.  I  had  even  gone 
so  far  as  to  meditate  the  time  and  place  of  self-destruc- 
tion. But,  passing  by  an  engine-house,  I  heard  singing. 
I  went  up,  and  found  a  prayer-meeting.  A  friend  took 
me  by  the  hand  and  invited  me  to  Christ.  Hope  sprang 
up  in  my  heart.  I  thought  I  would  try  whether  there 
was  any  thing  in  this  religion;  and  now  I  am  not 
ashamed  to  say  to  my  brother  firemen  that  there  is.  It 
can  give  peace  where  nothing  else  can  give  it,  and  make 
you  happy  as  you  could  never  have  believed  it  possible 
to  be.     'Oh,  taste,  and  see  that  the  Lord  is  good  !'  " 

Conversion  by  a  Single  Word. — "  That  night  I  felt 
as  if  I  must  go  to  the  Firemen's  Prayer-Meeting,  and  as 
if  there  would  be  a  message  for  me.  Weeks  and  months 
together  had  passed  away,  and  each  week  and  month 
had  only  added  to  the  darkness.  I  began  to  feel  as  if 
the  gate  of  life  would  never  be  opened  to  me.  But,  at 
the  close  of  an  earnest  exhortation,  the  brother  in- 
quired, 'Will  you  come  to  Jesus  now?'     And  my  heart 


THE   WORK   OP   GOD   IN    PHILADELPHIA.  47 

said,  <  Yes  !'  From  that  moment  my  bonds  were  loosed, 
and  I  have  been  permitted  to  rejoice  in  that  liberty 
wherewith  Jesus  makes  his  people  free/' 

The  Fireman's  Daughter. — At  an  alarm  of  fire  re- 
cently in  one  of  our  common  schools,  a  little  girl  was 
ween  sitting  very  quietly,  while  others  were  rushing 
down-stairs,  greatly  to  their  injury.  "  How  came  you 
not  to  do  as  the  others?"  asked  her  teacher.  "Why," 
said  the  little  girl,  "you  see  my  father  is  a  fireman;  and 
he  told  me  if  ever  there  was  an  alarm  of  fire  in  the 
school-house  to  sit  perfectly  still,  and  I  would  certainly 
be  saved.  I  believed  father,  that  I  would  be  saved  by 
doing  just  what  he  said."  Had  every  fireman  the  same 
faith  in  what  God  says  about  Christ  that  that  fireman's 
daughter  had  in  the  word  of  her  father,  how  soon  would 
our  prayers  be  turned  to  praises ! 

A  Better  Wish. — In  the  hall  of  one  of  the  companies 
stands  an  ancient  speaking-trumpet  under  a  glass  case. 
"Would,"  said  a  speaker  on  one  occasion,  "that,  in- 
stead of  my  feeble  voice,  I  could  take  down  this  trum- 
pet and  proclaim  the  gospel  to  you,  so  that  you  might 
be  made  to  hear  !  But  no  !  I  recall  that  wish.  It  would 
be  of  no  avail  thus  to  speak  to  you.  Only  'the  still,  small 
voice'  of  the  Holy  Spirit  can  so  speak  to  you  as  to  make 
you  hear."  Only  this,  indeed,  only  the  Holy  Spirit,  can 
speak  the  gospel  to  the  heart. 

Firemen's  Consciences  not  the  Hardest. — Two  in- 
fluential members  of  a  certain  company  opened  a  tavern 
not  long  since  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  hose-house. 
Before  the  month  was  out,  however,  one  of  them  gave 
it  up.  "  Twenty-nine  days,"  said  he,  "  in  the  liquor- 
business  is  too  much  for  my  conscience !"  What  sort 
of  consciences  roust  they  have  who  continue  in  it  for 
years  ? 

Answer  to  Prayer. — An  old  sailor  thus  spoke  one 
day  in  Jayne's  Hall.    "  I  think  I  know  how  to  prize  the 


48  THE   WORK   OF   GOD   IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

religion  of  Jesus.  Once  on  a  wreck  for  two  weeks,  and 
the  only  one  there  who  had  a  hope  in  Christ,  who  can 
tell  how  precious  that  hope  was  to  me  ?  Under  God,  I 
owe  my  religion  to  my  mother.  Fifty-three  years  ago, 
when  I  was  only  eight  years  old,  that  dear  mother,  but 
a  short  time  before  her  death,  clasped  me  in  her  arms, 
and,  having  prayed  that  we  might  meet  in  heaven,  she 
slept  in  Jesus.  To  all  human  appearance,  it  seemed  for 
a  long  time  as  if  those  prayers  would  not  be  answered. 
For  forty-three  years  I  was  a  drunkard  and  a  blasphe- 
mer. But  I  rise  in  this  meeting  to-day  to  testify  to  the 
efficacy  of  prayer,  and  that  I  have  found  a  Saviour." 

Silent  Prayer. — At  one  of  the  first  prayer-meetings 
in  Jayne's  Hall,  a  merchant  from  the  South,  noted  for 
his  profanity  and  infidel  sentiments,  finding  that  the 
young  salesman  was  going  there  to  the  meeting,  deter- 
mined to  accompany  him.  Turning  to  the  other  cus- 
tomers, he  said  that  he  wished  it  to  be  distinctly  under- 
stood that  he  went  merely  out  of  curiosity,  to  report 
what  he  saw  when  he  returned  home.  For  a  while  the 
scene  seemed  to  make  little  or  no  impression  upon  him; 
but,  towards  the  close  of  the  services,  Eev.  Dudley  A. 
Tyng  proposed  to  engage  for  five  minutes  in  silent 
prayer.  For  a  time  the  great  congregation  was  as  still 
as  the  chamber  of  death,  and  afterwards  the  merchant 
was  observed  to  be  weeping.  "  Let  us  go,"  said  he  to 
the  young  man.  "No,"  he  replied:  "the  services  will 
soon  be  over."  When  they  left  the  hall,  both  walked 
some  distance  in  perfect  silence,  which  was  at  length 
broken  by  the  merchant.  "  I  never  before  felt,"  said 
he,  "as  I  did  to-day  in  that  prayer-meeting.  I  do  not 
know  what  came  over  me  at  the  moment  of  silent 
prayer.  I  was,  against  my  will,  convinced  that  these 
people  were  worshipping  God  sincerely,  and  that  their 
religion  was  true.  I  have  been  a  scoffer  at  religion,  a 
member  of  an  infidel  club,  have  bought  and  sold  infidel 


THE    WORK   OF   GOD   IN    PHILADELPHIA.  49 

books.  But  henceforth,  by  the  help  of  that  God  whom 
I  have  hitherto  rejected  and  defied,  I  am  resolved  to 
sock  that  religion  with  all  my  heart."  Subsequent  in- 
formation lias  been  received  as  to  his  union  with  the 
church,  and  also  of  the  conversion  of  a  brother  in  con- 
sequence of  his  own. 

The  Minister's  Son. — The  prayers  of  the  Jayne's 
Hall  meeting  were  on  one  occasion  requested  by  a 
minister  for  his  son.  The  request  was  complied  with, 
and  very  earnest  and  importunate  supplication  made  on 
his  behalf.  A  few  days  after,  the  father  wrote  that,  on 
his  return  home,  he  found  his  son  very  deeply  convicted 
and  earnestly  inquiring  what  he  must  do  to  be  saved. 
These  convictions  terminating  in  his  hopeful  conversion, 
the  father  and  son  came  down  together  to  the  city;  and 
there,  in  the  hall  to  which  they  were  attached  by  such 
sacred  associations,  a  number  of  brethren,  who  well 
remembered  the  circumstances,  had  the  pleasure  of  re- 
joicing with  them  in  their  joy. 

The  Widow's  Son. — Coming  out  from  the  hall  one 
day,  a  lady  said  to  us,  "You  know  C?  Some  weeks 
ago,  his  brother,  away  off  in  a  distant  part  of  the  coun- 
try, wrote  me,  proposing  that,  as  this  was  a  time  when 
God  was  so  marvellously  hearing  prayer,  we  two  should 
agree  to  pray  for  C.  The  proposal  was  at  once  accepted 
and  the  letter  mailed;  but  long  ere  it  could  have  reached 
its  destination,  the  prayer  received  its  answer." 

"  Go,  and  sin  no  more." — Meeting  a  poor  woman  one 
morning,  we  asked  her  to  attend  the  meeting.  At  first 
she  excused  herself  by  saying  she  had  work  to  do,  but 
afterwards  she  came  in  and  heard  a  prayer.  That  prayer 
touched  her  heart,  and  she  found  no  peace  until  she 
found  it  at  the  foot  of  the  cross.  Her  life,  she  said, 
had  been  profane ;  nor  had  she  read  the  Bible  since  her 
childhood.  She  is  now  an  humble  follower  of  the  Sa- 
D  5 


50  THE    WORK   OF   GOD    IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

viour  so  long  neglected  by  her,  connected  with  the  church 
of  Christ,  and  labouring  to  do  good  to  others. 

Prayer,  Power  with  God  and  Man. — A  missionary, 
illustrating  one  afternoon  at  the  "  Diligent"  meeting  the 
nature  and  power  of  intercessory  prayer,  told  the  follow- 
ing incident,  which  may  also  stand  for  not  a  few  similar 
ones  recently  witnessed  in  Philadelphia.  "During  a 
period  of  religious  interest  among  the  Choctaw  Indians, 
to  the  surprise  of  many,  a  giant  Indian  came  into  one 
of  their  meetings  and  took  his  seat  on  a  log,  apparently 
out  of  mere  curiosity  to  see  what  was  going  on.  From 
the  platform  where  the  missionary  was  sitting,  he  saw 
that  the  entrance  of  the  giant  had  been  noticed  by  a 
young  convert.  First  the  convert  would  look  at  the 
Indian  until  his  eyes  were  filled  with  tears,  and  then 
he  would  clasp  his  hands  together  and  look  up  to  hea- 
ven, as  if  in  a  perfect  agony  of  prayer.  Towards  the 
close  of  the  services  the  giant  was  smitten  by  the  truth, 
like  Goliath  by  the  pebble.  On  the  invitation  given  by 
the  missionary  for  inquirers  to  meet  him  near  the  plat- 
form, he  came  forward  trembling  and  literally  tottering 
with  anxiety  and  distress,  asking  whether  there  was 
any  hope  for  him.  Christ  was  freely  offered  to  him  and 
promptly  accepted  by  him;  and  thus  once  more  did  God 
declare  himself  the  Hearer  of  Prayer." 

An  Importunate  Suppliant. — "  Forty  years,"  said  a 
mother  in  Israel,  "  was  I  praying  for  my  husband,  thirty 
years  for  my  daughter;  and  God  heard  me  for  them. 
And  ever  since  the  people  of  God,  at  my  request,  prayed 
for  my  son,  I  feel  as  if  God  would  also  hear  me  for  him." 
Is  not  this  one  of  the  secrets  of  the  Lord  that  few  con- 
sider and  understand  as  they  ought  ? 

Sad  Cases. — We  read  in  the  Gospels  of  a  poor  woman 
who  "  had  suffered  many  things  of  many  physicians,  and 
spent  all  that  she  had,  and  was  nothing  bettered,  but 
rather  grew  worse;"  fit  emblem  and  but  too  faithful  a 


THE   WORK    OF   GOD    IN    PHILADELPHIA.  51 

representative,  this  suffering  body,  of  many  a  still  more 
deeply  afflicted  and  suffering  soul!  The  number  of  per- 
sons of  this  description  who  have  been  brought  to  light 
and  who  have  known  the  healing  touch  of  Christ's  gar- 
ment during  this  present  revival  has  been  quite  large. 
It  is  not  the  least  of  the  recent  wonders  of  God  among 
us  that  prayers  should  be  awakened  and  heard  for  them 
also.  Take  a  single  example.  A  lady  who  had  been 
for  many  years  a  member  of  the  church,  but  who  had 
long  been  convinced  that  she  had  never  experienced  a 
change  of  heart,  was  led  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  feel  how 
vain  a  thing  it  was  to  have  the  "form  of  godliness" 
without  the  "power."  She  had  read,  "Whoso  covereth 
his  sins  shall  not  prosper,  but  whoso  confesseth  and  for- 
saketh  them  shall  have  mercy."  Accordingly,  she  acted 
on  this  advice,  and  at  length  opened  up  her  mind  fully 
to  a  Christian  friend.  It  pleased  God  at  once  to  enlist 
his  Christian  sympathy  on  her  behalf.  He  prayed  with 
her,  he  prayed  for  her;  he  promised,  on  one  single 
condition,  that  he  would  stand  by  her  in  her  spiritual 
trouble,  no  matter  whether  it  was  months  or  years, 
until  he  saw  her  through  it.  The  condition  was  this : 
that  she  should  not  deprive  him  of  the  power  to  help 
her  by  leaning  upon  his  prayers.  The  solemn  agreement 
was  made;  but  darker  and  darker  did  the  shadows 
gather  around  her  soul,  until  the  eclipse  became  total. 
What  was  to  be  done?  "Ask  still  more  prayer,"  said 
her  friend.  That  very  night  an  opportunity  was  af- 
forded at  the  close  of  a  prayer-meeting;  and,  heavy  as 
the  cross  was,  she  resolutely  took  it  up,  and  "  rose  for 
prayer."  That  prayer,  we  trust,  was  not  in  vain ;  and, 
ere  the  week  was  over,  such  a  peculiar  combination  of 
the  word  and  the  providence  and  the  Spirit  of  God  oc- 
curred that  the  hard  heart  was  broken  and  the  stubborn 
will  subdued.  We  scarcely  know  whether  the  encourage- 
ment to  prayer  appeared  the  greatest  to  the  lady  her- 


52  THE    WORK    OF    GOD    IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

self,  to  her  friend,  or  to  the  members  of  the  prayer- 
meeting  where  the  special  petition  had  been  offered  on 
her  behalf. 

The  sympathy  of  Christians  in  endeavouring  to  bring 
sinners  to  Christ  has  been  tender  and  affectionate  in  no 
ordinary  degree.  On  one  occasion,  at  Jayne's  Hall, 
when  those  who  desired  the  prayers  of  God's  people 
were  requested  to  signify  it  by  rising  or  by  holding  up 
their  right  hand,  an  incident  occurred,  the  spirit  of 
which  for  the  moment  reminded  us  of  the  time  when 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  passed  by  in  the  days  of  his  flesh, 
and  when,  "  seeing  their  faith/'  (i.e.  the  faith  of  the 
friends  of  the  sufferer,)  he  spake  the  word,  and  the  cure 
was  instant  and  complete  !  Twice,  but  in  vain,  a  lady 
had  endeavoured  to  lift  up  her  hand.  The  third  time, 
the  friend  beside  her  assisted  her  to  raise  it  up,  both  of 
them  being  completely  overpowered  by  their  emotion. 
Perhaps  there  were  not  more  than  two  or  three  who 
witnessed  the  occurrence ;  but  by  one,  at  least,  who  did 
see  it  it  was  a  sight  never  to  be  forgotten. 

conversions  from  error. 

Of  a  Universalist. — "  Such  I  was,"  said  one,  "  by 
belief;  that  is,  I  tried  to  make  myself  believe  in  the 
doctrine  of  universal  salvation,  and  thought  I  did  be- 
lieve it.  But,  after  all,  I  did  not  candidly  believe  it  in 
my  heart.  When  I  thought  of  the  death  of  friends  it 
would  make  me  shudder.  One  Sunday,  I  said  to  my 
wife,  who  belonged  to  the  Society  of  Friends,  '  Suppose 
we  go  to  church  to-day  V 

"  '  Well/  said  she,  '  if  your  conscience  so  dictates,  let 
us  do  it/  First  we  went  to  a  church  in  B.  Street;  and, 
after  we  had  entered,  I  happened  to  remember  that  it 
had  no  steeple !  More  out  of  ridicule  than  any  thing 
else,  I  said  to  my  wife,  '  Let  us  go  to  a  church  with  a 


THE    WORK    OF    GOD    IN    PHILADELPHIA.  53 

steeple  on  it.'  Notwithstanding  her  reproof,  I  would 
and  did  go  to  the  steeple-church.  Never  was  I  so  af- 
fected by  a  sermon  in  my  life.  I  went  home  uneasy 
and  troubled,  and  continued  so  for  days,  but  without 
letting  any  one  know  it.  The  first  time  the  minister 
called,  I  told  him  'it  was  all  humbug/  Some  days 
after  he  called  again,  and,  among  other  remarks,  made 
the  following: — 'Had  you  not  a  mother,  and  did  she  not 
teach  you  a  prayer?'  The  appeal  was  more  than  I 
could  stand,  and  that  single  remark  had  more  force  in 
it  than  if  he  had  talked  to  me  all  day.  '  Now/  said  he, 
'try  and  think  what  that  prayer  was  that  your  mother 
taught  you.'  And,  with  these  words,  he  bade  me  'good- 
morning.'  Weeks  and  months  passed  on,  but  I  could 
find  no  peace  nor  rest  until  I  found  it  in  believing  in 
Jesus." 

Conversion  of  a  Unitarian.  —  "Among  the  many 
cases  of  conversion,"  writes  a  friend,  "  in  this  special 
outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  one  of  unusual  inte- 
rest, not  only  from  the  important  social  position  held, 
but  in  the  radical  change  wrought  in  the  whole  life  and 
character.  A  lady  of  cultivated  intellect,  a  bold  thinker, 
impressing  her  opinions  on  all  with  whom  she  came  in 
contact,  became  involved  with  the  ensnaring  fallacy  of 
Unitarianism.  In  settling  down  in  this  belief  she  was 
aided  by  one  of  her  own  sex,  equally  educated  and  ac- 
complished, who  confirmed  her  in  this  fatal  error.  By 
mutual  conference  each  strengthened  the  other,  until  at 
length  the  resolution  was  taken  to  join  the  Unitarian 
Church. 

"  In  this  state  of  mind  the  claims  of  the  gospel  were 
presented  to  her,  but  only  to  be  most  strenuously  re- 
sisted. Salvation  by  a  crucified  Redeemer  was  indeed 
to  her  'a  stone  of  stumbling  and  a  rock  of  offence.'  To 
a  friend  of  hers  who  was  privileged  to  labour  with  her, 
she  replied,  with  an  emphasis  characteristic  of  the  ear- 
s' 


54  THE    WORK    OF   GOD   IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

nal  mind,  which  is  'enmity  against  God/  'If  I  accept 
Jesus  Christ  on  the  terms  which  you  propose,  you  make 
me  a  debtor  to  him  "  Amid  much  discouragement,  yet 
with  a  constant  presentation  of  the  'truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus,'  the  Holy  Spirit,  after  many  months  of  unbeliev- 
ing rejection,  was  pleased  to  discover  '  Christ  crucified,' 
as  the  only  way  to  God.  Then  came  the  struggle  to 
submit  to  the  'righteousness  which  is  by  faith  in  Christ/ 
"Weeks  passed  by  in  the  vain  hope  of  satisfying  God  by 
a  righteousness  of  her  own.  But  the  text-book  used 
during  this  season  of  trial  was  the  word  of  God.  '  Thus 
saith  the  Lord/  was  the  answer  to  all  the  cavils  of  un- 
belief and  all  the  reasonings  of  philosophy  falsely  so 
called.  At  length,  when  human  reason  failed  to  unravel 
the  great  truths  of  revelation,  it  was  suggested  by  her 
friend,  as  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter,  'Shall  not 
the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  do  right  V  and  there  he  rested 
the  subject.  It  pleased  God  to  make  that  declaration  of 
his  own  word  the  means  of  settling  her  perplexed  and 
bewildered  mind.  She  rested  on  it,  an4  found  peace  in 
believing  on  Jesus.  Shortly  after,  she  wrote  to  her  Uni- 
tarian friend;  and  an  extract  from  that  letter  will  give 
you,  perhaps,  a  better  idea  of  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
on  her  heart  than  mere  general  description : — 

"  '  For  several  days  I  have  had  a  letter  on  hand  to 
send  vou,  and  have  written  and  re-written  it  from  the 
difficulty  I  found  in  saying  just  what  I  wanted.  Xow, 
however,  I  feel  that  the  simplest  way  is  the  best,  and 
that  I  ought  no  longer  to  delay  in  confessing  my  Saviour 
before  men.  Indeed,  I  long  to  confess  him,  though  it  be 
in  weakness  and  with  much  trembling.  Let  me  confess 
him  to  you,  my  dear  friend,  and  let  me  ask  you  to  listen 
patiently  to  what  are  now  the  dearest  and  deepest 
thoughts  of  my  life.  And  yet,  what  can  I  say?  Jesus 
died  for  me  !  One  thins;  onlv  I  know: — "Whereas  once 
I  was  blind,  now  I  see."     I  see  him,  my  Redeemer,  my 


THE    WORK.   OF   GOD    IN    PHILADELPHIA.  55 

t 

Sanctifier,  m}r  ever-present  Lord  and  Master!  Above 
all,  I  see  him  an  all-sufficient  atonement  for  my  sins; 
and  at  the  sight  the  weary  burden  has  fallen  from  me, 
and  left  me  free  in  that  liberty  wherewith  Christ  has 
made  me  free.  Oh,  if  I  could  but  find  words  to  express 
to  you  the  deep  inward  peace  and  joy  which  has  been 

mine  at  intervals  for  the  last  few  weeks,  dear ,  I 

think  it  would  touch  your  heart !  I  have  honestly,  I 
think,  been  praying  and  seeking  to  be  enlightened  with 
the  true  light  from  above;  and  gradually,  almost  in- 
sensibly, I  have  been  drawn  nearer  and  nearer  unto 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  until  at  last,  weary,  sin-sick,  and  un- 
worthy, as  I  know  I  am,  I  have  fallen  at  the  foot  of  the 
cross,  and  have  sought  and  found  mercy.  It  is  unspeak- 
ably precious  to  me  to  have  been  thus  brought;  and  oh, 
I  would  not  exchange  this  all-sufficient  Saviour,  and  the 
salvation  which  is  his  free  gift,  (and  oh,  how  free  !)  for 
all  the  righteousness  which  years  or  centuries  of  perfect 
obedience  to  the  law  might  win  for  me  !  I  glory  in  the 
cross  of  Christ ! 

"  '  Yet  I  write  these  words  in  fear  and  trembling,  lest 
through  my  unfaithfulness  I  may  bring  reproach  on  the 
cause  I  long  to  serve.  May  the  power  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  keep  me  faithful  to  himself !  And  now,  my  dear- 
est friend,  how  my  heart  yearns  for  you !  How  I  long 
to  see  you  come  to  this  Saviour  and  be  at  peace !  What 
can  I  say?  I  feel  that  words  are  useless.  I  can  only 
pray  for  you ;  and  this,  God  granting  me  the  ability,  I 
will  do  until  you  are  brought  into  this  sheltered  fold,  of 
which  Christ  is  the  compassionate  Shepherd.  I  do  not 
feel  as  if  I  could  argue  the  subject  with  you;  for,  though 
"I  know  that  my  Eedeemer  liveth,"  I  know  also  that  it 
is  not  by  argument,  but  from  conviction,  that  you  will  em- 
brace the  truth;  and  this  no  words  can  adequately  ex- 
press. My  heart  is  too  full  to  write  more  at  present; 
yet  this  one  thing  I  may  say, — that  no  motive  for  work 


56  THE    WORK   OP   GOD   IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

was  ever  half  so  powerful  as  the  thought  that  I  am  now 
working  for  my  dear  Saviour.  It  seems  to  me  that, 
through  Christ  strengthening  me,  I  can  do  all  things.' 

"  To  another  friend  she  says,  i  On  the  13th  of  March, 
I  went  to  the  prayer-meeting  at  Jayne's  Hall  out  of 
mere  curiosity.  I  took  my  seat  in  the  crowded  room 
with  a  feeling  of  infinite  superiority  to  the  benighted 
souls  around  me  who  could  find  any  comfort  in  such 
scenes  of  fanatical  excitement.  But,  irresistibly,  a  dif- 
ferent feeling  stole  over  me.  I  realized  that  the  Spirit 
of  God  was  present  there  in  a  way  never  witnessed  by 
me  before.  My  own  poor,  philosophical  religion  seemed 
vain  and  dead  in  view  of  the  whole-souled  earnestness 
which  I  saw  and  felt  around  me.  Here  was  something 
above  and  beyond  my  experience;  and,  though  I  had 
gone  in  to  criticize  and  scoff,  I  sat  there  in  tears,  with  a 
bitter  sense  of  the  insufficiency  of  all  my  philosophy. 
For  the  first  time,  my  faith  in  my  preconceived  opinion 
was  shaken.  These  worshippers  knew  whom  they  be- 
lieved :  I  did  not,  and  I  could  not  be  at  peace/  " 

Personal  Epfort. — To  a  careful  observer  of  the  work 
of  God  in  this  city  during  the  last  year,  there  are  two 
things  in  reference  to  which  there  will  be  little  or  no 
dispute.  The  first  is  the  union  of  Christians  in  their 
spirit.  "  AVe  are  all  one  man's  sons," — the  sons  of  Israel. 
The  second  is  the  individuality  of  Christians  in  all  the 
various  fields  of  Christian  exertion.  "  Lord,  what  wilt 
thou  have  me  to  do?"  The  question  of  service  is  asked 
directly  of  the  Lord,  the  commission  received  from  him, 
and  not  at  second-hand  from  some  one  else.  My  pre- 
sence is  wanted:  am  I  there?  My  prayers  are  called 
for:  are  they  forthcoming?  There  are  souls  to  be  saved, 
and  I  must  do  my  part  towards  saving  them :  who  are 
they,  and  where  are  they  to  be  found? 

Personal  Obligation  to  bring  Sinners  to  Eepent- 
ance,  we  think  it  safe  to  say,  has  recently  been  felt  in  . 


THE    WORK   OF   (JOD    IN    PHILADELPHIA.  57 

this  city  to  an  oxtent  Unit  has  never  been  known  in  it 
before.  Doing  good  merely  by  donation,  or  deputy,  or 
proxy,  has  failed  to  satisfy  the  conscience.  Each  man 
has  his  own  burden  and  his  own  cross,  or  he  is  not  at 
work  as  he  should  'be. 

The  extent  to  which  some  of  our  young  men  particu- 
larly have  been  blessed  in  their  labours  has  been  re- 
markable indeed.  Six,  eight,  ten,  and  even  more  of 
their  companions  won  to  Christ  through  their  imme- 
diate instrumentality, — such  is  the  history  of  not  a  few 
who  thus  sincerely  and  earnestly  devoted  themselves  to 
the  work  of  the  Lord.  By  conversing  with  a  friend,  by 
inviting  him  to  church  or  prayer-meeting,  by  introduc- 
ing him  to  a  Christian  minister,  by  giving  him  a  book 
or  tract, — above  all,  by  making  him  the  special  subject 
of  prayer  in  secret, — simple  as  these  means  appear,  they 
have  been  all-powerful,  through  the  blessing  of  God,  to 
produce  the  desired  result. 

Holy  Joy. — M  Never  was  I  so  happy  in  all  my  life," 
said  a  young  convert,  after  taking  up  the  cross  for 
Christ  at  a  prayer-meeting.  "I  always  knew  what  Je- 
sus had  done  for  me,  but  this  was  the  first  time  I  ever 
really  felt  that  I  had  done  any  thing  for  Jesus.  My  joy  at 
conversion  was  as  nothing  compared  with  that  which  I 
now  feel  on  entering  into  service !" 

A  Mission  Prayer-Meeting. — In  a  short  but  thickly- 
populated  street  in  the  upper  part  of  the  city,  two 
young  men  were  -seen  one  afternoon  endeavouring  to 
find  some  room  in  which  to  hold  a  prayer-meeting. 
Having  passed  from  one  end  of  the  street  to  the  other 
without  finding  any  house  for  this  purpose,  the  wife  of 
a  good-natured  skeptic  suggested  a  wish  to  have  such 
a  meeting  in  their  house.  Laughingly  assenting  to  the 
proposition,  the  meeting  was  accordingly  appointed. 
For  four  or  five  weeks  it  was  continued  without  any 
apparent  fruit;   but,  though  the  blessing  "tarried/'  it 


it 

58  THE   WORK   OF   GOD   IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

came  in  the  end.  First  the  wife  was  converted ;  then 
a  number  of  others, — the  twenty -seventh  being  the  hus- 
band. Afterwards,  it  became  necessary  to  have  two 
meetings  instead  of  one,  and  some  forty  conversions,  it 
is  hoped,  may  be  traced  to  that  little  meeting.  What 
is  to  prevent  the  establishment  of  hundreds  of  similar 
meetings  all  over  the  city?  And  why  not  expect  from 
them  similar  results  ? 

The  Kunner's  Bible-Class. — During  the  latter  part 
of  the  winter,  a  series  of  meetings,  which  lasted  some 
seven  weeks  without  intermission,  were  held  for  the 
especial  benefit  of  that  class  of  boys  known  as  the 
" runners"  with  the  engines.  During  the  progress  of 
the  meeting,  several  professed  to  have  experienced  a 
change  of  heart;  and  their  subsequent  conduct  has 
given  good  evidence  of  the  truth  of  their  profession. 
On  the  termination  of  the  prayer-meetings,  a  Bible-class 
was  organized — to  be  held  once  a  week — for  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  young  converts  and  of  any  others  who  might 
wish  to  attend.  The  movement  unexpectedly  proved  to 
be  a  very  popular  one.  That  a  class  of  young  men, 
whose  ages  range  from  eighteen  to  twenty,  the  regular 
habitues  of  the  corner,  those  who  were  supposed  to  be 
almost  beyond  hope,  should  meet  regularly  on  a  week- 
day evening  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  instruction 
from  the  word  of  God,  and  of  engaging  afterwards  in 
prayer  with  and  for  one  another,  a  year  ago  would  have 
seemed  almost  impossible.  But  our  readers  may  rest 
assured  that  the  fact  is  even  as  we  declare  it. 

A  similar  movement  has  been  in  progress  among  the 
"  newsboys,"  showing  that  they,  too,  are  accessible, — 
as  also  among  various  other  classes  of  neglected  youth. 
The  additions  to  the  Sabbath-schools  during  the  last 
year  have  been  very  large.  Seventy-four  schools  (being 
less  than  one-third  of  the  whole  number)  have  reported 
fifteen  hundred  and  forty-six  conversions  during  the  year. 


THE    WORK    OF    GOD    IN    PHILADELPHIA.  59 

Various  other  movements  are  now  in  progress  among 
the  youth, — even  more  interesting,  some  of  them,  than 
any  we  have  stated;  but  they  are  so  recent  in  their 
origin  that,  for  the  present,  it  is  better  to  refer  to  them 
merely  in  the  general.  When,  however,  the  proper  time 
does  come  to  mention  them,  it  will  be  to  many  equally 
the  occasion  of  surprise  and  joy. 

The  Meeting  where  God  was. — At  the  commence- 
ment of  this  revival,  some  fifteen  j'oung  men,  members 
of  respectable  and  well-known  families  in  Philadelphia, 
were  banded  together  as  a  sort  of  club.  Like  hundreds, 
and,  perhaps,  thousands  of  similar  circles  in  the  city, 
they  wrere  in  the  habit  of  meeting  every  afternoon  and 
evening  in  various  drinking-saloons,  and  sometimes  in 
their  own  homes,  to  play  cards,  to  drink  wine,  and 
spend  their  nights  in  revelry.  Thus  were  they  all  in 
the  broad  road  to  ruin,  when  it  pleased  God  to  arrest 
one  of  their  number  by  his  Spirit  and  lead  him  to  a 
place  of  worship.  Little  did  he  think,  on  returning 
home  at  two  o'clock  the  night  before,  that  the  next 
afternoon  he  wrould  be  in  the  house  of  God.  But  the 
same  mighty  leaven  was  beginning  to  work  in  his  heart 
that  had  already  found  its  way  into  the  hearts  of  so 
many  others.  Lingering  at  the  close  of  the  service  and 
attracting  the  notice  of  the  minister  by  his  ill-concealed 
agitation,  a  conversation  ensued  between  them  as  to  the 
worth  of  the  soul  and  how  far  he  himself  was  interested 
in  this  matter  personally.  All  his  impressions  thus 
greatly  deepened,  he  determined  to  abandon  the  club 
and  throw  himself  in  the  way  of  other  and  better  in- 
fluences. The  following  week,  he  met  with  one  of  his 
old  companions  with  whom  he  had  been  the  most  inti- 
mate, who  rallied  him  on  the  change  that  had  come 
over  him  and  proposed  a  visit  to  the  circus.  Admitting 
the  reality  of  the  change,  he  endeavoured  to  persuade 
his  companion  that  his  new  life  was  a  better  one  for  him 


60  THE    WORK    OF   GOD   IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

than  his  old  one,  and  induce  him  to  adopt  a  similar  one 
for  himself.  Once  and  again  they  passed  the  door  of 
the  circus  during  their  walk;  but,  their  conversation  be- 
coming more  and  more  absorbing,  the  friend,  now  also 
awakened,  returned  with  him  to  his  house.  It  was  not 
long  before  both  friends  were  rejoicing  in  Him  who  loves 
to  be  called  the  "  Friend  of  sinners." 

The  conversion  of  these  two  young  men  was  not  with- 
out its  effect  on  the  rest  of  their  companions;  and,  for  a 
time,  the  operations  of  the  club  were  completely  sus- 
pended. Hearing,  after  some  weeks,  that  it  was  about 
to  be  revived,  it  was  agreed  between  the  two  to  antici- 
pate the  movement  by  a  prayer-meeting.  Such  a  meet- 
ing was  accordingly  appointed  at  the  house  of  one  of  the 
converts,  to  which  he  invited  not  only  all  his  old  asso- 
ciates of  the  club,  but  some  of  his  new-found  friends  in 
the  Christian  Association.  The  scene  was  certainly  a 
most  extraordinary  one.  Those  who,  in  that  same 
house,  had  gathered  around  the  card-table,  to  drink  the 
intoxicating  cup,  to  sing  the  bacchanalian  song,  and  in- 
dulge freely  in  the  language  of  profanity,  now  met  to 
worship  God  in  praise  and  prayer !  From  this  time  for- 
ward nothing  more  was  heard  of  reviving  the  club.  The 
prayer-meeting  took  its  place :  the  Bible  was  substituted 
for  the  decanter,  and  the  hymn-book  for  the  pack  of 
cards.  Each  successive  meeting  seemed  to  increase  in 
interest;  until,  at  length,  in  the  early  part  of  the  sum- 
mer, one  meeting  in  particular  was  held,  which  will  be 
long  remembered  by  those  who  were  present  as  "  the 
meeting  where  God  was."  The  room  was  closely  filled 
with  about  fifty  young  men ;  and  it  was  evident,  from 
the  very  commencement  of  the  meeting,  that  God  was 
in  the  midst  of  them.  As  soon  as  the  meeting  was 
thrown  open,  one  young  man  arose  and  asked  them  to 
pray  for  him,  as  he  had  just  determined,  by  the  help  of 
God,  to  be  a  Christian.     First  one  prayer  was  offered 


THE   WORK   OP   GOD   IN    PHILADELPHIA.  Gl 

for  him,  and  then  another,  all  remaining  on  their  knees, 
and  pleading  fervently  with  God,  not  only  for  this  friend 
but  for  every  other  there  that  was  seeking  Jesus.  At 
the  close  of  this  prayer,  a  third  commenced  praying. 
He  prayed  that  God  would  lead  the  Christians  then  pre- 
sent to  pray  for  him.  He  prayed  in  the  broken  accents 
of  a  foreigner, — as  one  "who  had  no  friend;"  who  had 
"left  a  dear  mother  far  over  the  waves;"  who  was  a 
stranger  in  a  strange  land ;  and  who  wanted  "  to  have 
Jesus  to  be  his  friend,"  who  was  the  "  friend  and  Saviour 
of  his  mother  in  Europe."  Tears  were  seen  streaming 
from  every  eye ;  and  a  fourth  brother  took  up  the  bur- 
den and  prayed,  while  they  were  still  kneeling,  for  him 
who  had  last  prayed,  as  "  no  longer  a  stranger,  but  a 
brother  !"  The  company  then  all  arose  from  their  knees 
weeping,  and  for  some  time  not  a  man  could  summon 
the  courage,  or  collect  himself  sufficiently,  to  say  a 
single  word.  The  leader,  in  a  subdued  and  almost  in- 
audible voice,  gave  out  the  hymn, — 

"Alas  !  and  did  my  Saviour  bleed?" 

and  sweetly  did  the  melting  hearts  of  the  singers  flow 
out  in  the  channel  of  its  harmonies  !  The  hymn  over, 
fervent  and  affectionate  were  the  appeals  that  came 
from  the  lips  of  those  who  tried  to  address  the  meeting; 
and  soon  another  rose,  saying,  "  Pray  for  me,  brothers. 
I,  too,  will  be  for  Christ."  Another  arose  with  a  similar 
request.  At  the  close  of  the  meeting,  three  more  an- 
nounced their  resolution  to  come  out  on  the  Lord's  side. 
The  next  afternoon,  at  the  "  Diligent"  prayer-meeting, 
another  young  man  rose  and  said  that  at  the  meeting 
in  Spruce  Street  last  evening  he  too  had  found  the  Sa- 
viour. The  blessedness  of  that  evening  will  never  be 
effaced  from  the  memories  of  those  who  enjoyed  the 
precious  privilege  of  being  there, — "where  God  was." 

6 


62  THE    WORK   OF   GOD   IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

Eight  young  men  coming  out  from  the  world  comprised 
nearly  every  unconverted  man  in  the  room ;  and  the 
conversation  with  the  rejoicing  penitents  after  the  meet- 
ing was  over  was,  if  any  thing,  even  more  delightful 
than  the  meeting  itself. 

r-  From  that  night  the  meeting  was  made  a  permanent 
one.  From  week  to  week  the  hymn-books,  camp-stools, 
etc.  are  carried  round  to  the  parlours  of  different  private 
residences.  Up  to  December  1st,  twenty-three  meetings 
had  been  held,  always  largely  attended,  some  of  them 
numbering  over  a  hundred  young  men;  and,  fronji  a 
careful  estimate,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that 
through  their  instrumentality  at  least  twenty  souls  have 
been  "born  again,"  and  led  to  rejoice  in  God  their 
Saviour !  Why  should  not  every  town  and  village  see 
a  similar  prayer-meeting?  And  why  should  not  many 
more  such  clubs  in  our  city  experience  a  similar  trans- 
formation? Who  doubts  that  it  would  be  better  for  the 
young  men  themselves,  for  their  parents,  for  their  wives 
and  children,  and  for  the  real  welfare  of  the  entire 
community? 

One  witness  more,  and  we  close  the  record.  As  if  to 
leave  no  possible  doubt  on  any  candid  mind  as  to  the 
fact  that  this  was  the  work  of  God,  and  not  of  man,  it 
has  pleased  God  to  send  his  Holy  Spirit  into  the  solitary 
cells  of  the  prison.  The  letter  of  the  "Moral  Instructor" 
needs  no  comment.  The  theory  of  "sympathy,"  to  what- 
ever extent  it  may  apply  elsewhere,  has  certainly  no- 
thing to  recommend  it  here. 

"Philadelphia,  Oct.  30, 1858. 

"Dear  Sir: — Agreeably  to  your  request,  I  send  to  you  the 
following  brief  statement  of  the  religious  influence  which  has 
for  some  months  past  pervaded  the  Eastern  Penitentiary. 

"I  may  premise  that  during  the  past  three  years  there  has 
been  very  little,  if  any,  genuine  feeling  regarding  the  interests 
of  the  soul  and  eternity.  I  have  endeavoured  to  present  the 
truths  of  the  gospel  to  the  minds  of  the  prisoners,  but  with  a 


THE    WORK   OF   GOD   IN    PHILADELPHIA.  63 

desponding  spirit,  having  little  hope  that  any  would  be  led  to 
seek  deliverance  from  the  wrath  to  come.  During  the  early 
part  of  the  remarkable  movement  which  lias  awakened  public 
attention  in  our  own  and  other  cities,  and  over  all  our  land,  I 
was  led  from  prudential  considerations  to  withhold  from  the 
inmates,  in  my  Sabbath  ministrations,  any  statement  of  what 
was  transpiring  without,  lest  the  mere  influence  of  human 
sympathies  should  awaken  a  corresponding  excitement  within 
the  prison,  which  might  pass  away  like  the  early  cloud  or  the 
morning  dew. 

"Some  time  towards  the  latter  end  of  March  last,  the  prisoner 
who  aided  me  in  the  distribution  of  the  books  which  are  issued 
weekly  from  the  library,  called  my  attention  to  a  fact  which 
had  arrested  his  attention ;  that  there  was  an  unusual  demand 
for  religious  books,  a  kind  rarely  called  for  previously.  This 
was  not  immediately  attended  to,  owing  to  the  exhausting  and 
hurried  labours  of  that  day.  But  subsequently  he  directed  my 
attention  to  this  matter  more  impressively,  adding,  '  Had  you 
not  better  attend  to  it  V  I  replied,  '  Yes :  let  me  know  who 
they  are  who  take  such  books/  I  was  somewhat  aroused  by 
the  interest  with  which  he  regarded  this  apparent  concern  on 
the  part  of  other  prisoners,  suspecting  that  he  too  was  not 
wholly  indifferent  to  the  momentous  question,  '  What  must  I 
do  to  be  saved  V  I  conversed  with  him  seriously  in  relation 
to  it,  and  urged  him  to  a  careful  examination  of  the  fifty-third 
chapter  of  the  Prophecy  of  Isaiah.  Soon  after  this,  a  deep 
anxiety  was  manifested  by  him,*  which  I  trust  has  resulted  in 
his  conversion.  I  have  never  known  an  instance  of  professed 
conversion  more  satisfactory. 

"On  one  occasion,  attending  a  prayer-meeting  at  Jayne's 
Hall,  prayer  was  requested  in  behalf  of  a  young  man  recently 
consigned  to  the  Eastern  Penitentiary,  of  whom  it  was 
announced  soon  after  that  prayer  had  been  answered,  and 
that  he  was  converted.  These  events,  occurring  without  any 
direct  efforts  of  an  exciting  kind  within  the  prison,  induced 
the  adoption  of  means  to  ascertain  to  what  extent  this  influ- 
ence prevailed.  On  the  following  Sabbath,  after  the  sermon, 
I  expressed  a  hope  that  the  Spirit  of  God  was  operating  on  the 
hearts  of  some  of  the  inmates,  and  requested  that  as  many  as 
wished  to  have  personal  conversation  on  the  subject  of  religion 
would  signify  it  by  quietly  dropping  a  piece  of  paper,  contain- 
ing their  designating  number,  outside  of  the  doors  of  their 
cells. 

"This  was  responded  to  by  twelve  or  thirteen  in  the  corridor 
where  I  then  preached.  The  same  plan  was  adopted  by  visit- 
ing brethren  who  preached  on  successive  Sabbaths  in  other 

*  It  may  be  proper  to  state  that  the  individual  here  referred  to  was  a  very 
intelligent  Jew,  whose  term  of  service  had  nearly  expired. 


64  THE   WORK   OP   GOD   IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

parts  of  the  house,  until  the  number  who  were  desirous  of 
religious  converse  and  prayer  exceeded  fifty  persons.  In  a 
short  time  some  ten  or  twelve  professed  to  have  found  peace 
in  believing  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Others  continue  to 
exhibit  evidences  of  sincere  desire  for  salvation,  while  some 
have  apparently  relapsed  into  a  state  of  indifference.  Some 
five  or  six  who  gave  evidence  of  a  saving  change,  having  served 
out  their  time  in  prison,  have  been  discharged, — all  of  them,  I 
believe,  having  continued  to  act  consistently  with  their  profes- 
sions up  to  that  period.  One  young  man  died  not  long  since, 
expressing  a  steadfast  hope  of  salvation  through  the  atoning 
merits  of  Jesus.  The  present  aspect  of  the  prison  is  less 
interesting:  few,  if  any,  new  instances  of  conviction  have  been 
noticed.  Owing  to  the  pressure  of  multiplied  duties,  my 
opportunities  of  becoming  acquainted  with  such  cases  are 
quite  limited. 

"In  visiting  and  inquiring  among  those  who  were  the  sub- 
jects of  this  awakening,  I  was  struck  with  the  singular  coin- 
cidence of  their  attention  being  called  to  the  subject  of  reli- 
gion at  about  the  same  time ;  two  or  three  in  the  month  of 
January,  and  nearly  all  the  rest  in  and  through  the  month  of 
February,  at  which  time  there  was  repeated  and  earnest 
prayer  offered  for  prisoners  at  the  meeting  in  Jayne's  Hall. 

"That  this  Divine  influence  visiting  this  prison  at  that 
period  was  in  answer  to  those  prayers,  I  cannot  doubt ;  and  I 
would  greatly  rejoice  if,  in  the  noonday  and  other  prayer- 
meetings,  the  prisoners  could  share  in  the  fervent,  effectual 
offerings  presented  at  the  throne  of  grace.  Will  you  please 
make  this  request  on  our  behalf,  and  oblige 

"Yours  affectionately, 

"  T.  L.,  Moral  Instructor." 

In  view  of  these,  and  a  multitude  of  similar  facts,  of 
which  these  stand  only  as  the  imperfect  representatives, 
we  feel  bound  in  all  honour  and  conscience,  both  as  men 
and  as  Christians,  to  express  to  our  city,  our  common- 
wealth, our  country,  and  the  world  at  large,  our  most 
solemn  and  undoubting  belief  that  this  last  year  in  the 
religious  history  of  Philadelphia  has  been  "a  year  of  the 
right  hand  of  the  Most  High,"  and  that  many  of  its  days 
have  been  days  of  Pentecost  indeed.  The  great  ques- 
tion is,  "What  hath  God  wrought?"  and  not,  "What 
has  been  done  by  man?"  Almost  as  by  a  voice  from  the 
Excellent  Glory,  we  seem  to  hear  the  emphatic  declara- 


THE    WORK    OF   GOD    IN    PHILADELPHIA.  65 

lion,  "Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit, 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."  "They  shall  come,  and  shall 
declare  his  righteousness  unto  a  people  that  shall  bo 
born,  that  He  hath  done  this/'  The  human  instru- 
ment a  I  it  y  in  this  matter  is  as  nothing  compared  with  the 
1)1.  cine  agency. 

Individual  Christians,  lay  or  clerical ;  individual 
churches,  wThether  belonging  to  this  denomination  or 
the  other;  denominations  themselves,  whether  larger  or 
smaller,  all  as  with  one  accord,  with  no  anxiety  to 
challenge  relative  superiority,  no  jealousy  to  adjust 
rival  or  peculiar  claims,  humble,  grateful,  and  rejoicing, 
meet  here  as  in  the  great  congregation,  in  the  one 
glorious-  ascription  of  praise  : — "  Not  unto  us,  O  Lord, 
not  unto  us,  but  unto  thy  name  give  glory,  for  thy  mercy 
and  for  thy  truth's  sake."  As  it  was  "the pouring  forth 
anew  of  that  J  if e  which  Christ  brought  into  the  world"  that 
will  alone  account  for  the  Kcformation,  so  a  new  instal- 
ment of  the  Divine  life  is  the  only  theory  on  which  we 
can  satisfactorily  account  for  this  "  Great  Awakening." 
We  assume  that  it  is  of  God  until  there  are  those  who 
are  bold  enough,  and  subtle  enough,  to  prove  it  other- 
wise. Occasional  indiscretions  on  the  part  of  any  who 
have  been  the  subjects  of  His  work,  or  the  humble 
agents  in  carrying  it  forward,  have  as  little  to  do  with 
the  real  character  of  the  work  as  the  bubble  on  the 
surface  has  to  do  in  determining  the  character  of  the 
stream.  In  the  wise  and  carefully-chosen  language  of 
another,  "  Let  us  carefully  distinguish  between  what  we 
are  to  set  down  to  the  dishonour  of  man,  and  what  we 
are  to  be  thankful  for  to  the  praise  of  God.  As,  in  a 
single  instance  of  the  power  of  his  converting  grace,  we 
are  not  the  less  persuaded  of  the  genuineness  of  the 
work  because  the  old  nature,  though  subdued,  still 
appears,  so  let  us  judge  of  a  more  general  work !"  Thus 
far,  as  compared  with  the  purest  revivals  of  the  past,  the 
E  G* 


66  THE   WORK   OP  GOD   IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

absence  of  extravagance  of  any  kind  is  extraordinary  to 
a  perfect  marvel.  Never  in  their  social  devotions  were 
the  people  of  God  in  the  enjoyment  of  wider  or  more 
unrestricted  liberty,  and  never  was  this  liberty  less 
perverted.  "  During  the  last  week/'  (the  last  week  in 
June,)  said  a  brother,  "I  have  attended  no  less  than 
iive-and-twenty  different  prayer-meetings.  Going  there 
calmly  and  deliberately,  for  the  express  purpose  of  care- 
fully observing  their  spiritual  character  and  of  studying 
out  as  far  as  possible  the  philosophy  of  such  unwonted 
gatherings  of  the  people  of  God,  looking  at  them  in 
every  possible  light  of  which  I  am  capable,  the  candid 
and  unavoidable  conclusion  to  which  I  have  come  is 
this : — They  are  of  God  V  The  testimony  of  the  great 
Anniversary  Meeting  at  Jayne's  Hall,  Nov.  23,  1858, 
was  cordially  and  unanimously  the  same: — "This  is  the 
Lord's  doing  :   it  is  marvellous  in  our  eyes  !" 

The  many  and  various  lessons  from  these  facts,  as  to 
the  nature  of  prayer;  the  duty  of  intercession ;  the  Noon 
Prayer-Meeting,  the  expediency  not  only  of  a  Sabbath 
day  in  every  week,  but  of  a  Sabbath  hour  in  every  day; 
the  value  of  Christian  Union  ;  the  importance  of  per- 
sonal, individual  effort  for  the  conversion  of  souls;  the 
newly-opened  field  of  "  Union  Missions,"  in  which  it 
has  not  only  been  demonstrated  that  Christians  can 
pray  and  work  together,  but  that  it  is  for  their  own  mutual 
benefit  and  the  advantage  of  the  common  cause  thus  to  do; 
the  true  principles  of  reformation  and  of  city  evangeli- 
zation; the  development  of  latent  power  in  the  church; 
the  guilt  of  those  who  have  opposed  this  work,  or  who 
have  been  indifferent  to  it,  or  who  have  been  mere 
absorbents  of  it  by  a  luxurious  spiritual  sympathy,  giv- 
ing neither  of  their  means  nor  energies  to  carry  it  for- 
ward— these  are  fruitful  and  suggestive  topics,  that  we 
leave  to  each  of  our  readers  to  carry  out  at  their  leisure. 
God  hath  indeed  "  done  great  things  for  us,  whereof  we 


THE   WORK    OF   OOD   IN    PHILADELPHIA.  67 

are  glad;"  but  whether,  after  having  thus  been  brought 
within  sight  of  the  promised  land,  and  been  made  to 
taste  of  the  rich  clusters  of  Eshcol,  we  shall  go  up  at 
once  and  possess  the  land,  or  whether  we  shall  turn 
back  again  into  the  wilderness,  leaving  it  to  another 
and  better  generation  to  complete  the  conquest  which 
has  been  so  auspiciously  commenced,  "the  day  will 
declare  it." 

Prayerless,  Christless  soul,  whether  in  the  church  or 
out  of  it, — you  who  have  thus  far  lived  through  this 
revival  like  an  "  island  of  ice  in  a  sea  of  fire," — who 
have  been  like  "  the  heath  in  the  desert,  that  knoweth 
not  when  good  cometh," — especially  are  these  pages 
designed  for  you.  "We  cannot  but  speak  the  things 
which  we  have  seen  and  heard;"  and  as  though  our 
souls  were  in  your  souls'  stead  are  we  anxious  that 
you  should  receive  our  testimony.  "To-day,  the  Holy 
Ghost  saith,  if  ye  will  hear  his  voice,  harden  not  your 
hearts."  Not  to  hear  that  voice  is  to  harden  your 
hearts.  As  in  the  time  of  Whitefield,  in  many  places 
where  he  preached,  those  who  remained  unconverted 
until  the  close  of  that  great  revival  remained  so  until 
their  death,  so  may  it  be  with  you.  Since  the  com- 
mencement of  this  wojk,  warnings  have  multiplied 
around  us  on  every  hand.  Are  you  an  unbeliever  in  the 
gospel  ?  We  could  tell  you  of  three  friends,  who,  around 
their  cups,  agreed  that  the  first  of  them  to  die  should 
give  the  others  the  benefit  of  his  experience.  Very  soon 
the  opportunity  was  afforded.  The  testimony  was  given, 
and  as  the  affrighted  friend  carried  the  news  to  his  com- 
panion, his  first  exclamation  was,  "We  had  better  believe 
it  all !  Neither  you  nor  I  would  want  to  die  as  he  is 
dying !"  Are  you  a  Sabbath-breaker  ?  We  can  tell  of 
one  who  broke  away  with  curses  from  his  father  and 
mother  on  the  morning  of  a  Sabbath  day  to  go  sailing, 
and  by  the  time  the  sun  was  down  was  brought  home  a 


68       THE  WORK  OF  GOD  IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

corpse.  Are  you  postponing  the  claims  of  the  gospel  to 
a  more  convenient  season  ?  So  was  one  who  was  hur- 
ried off  by  a  violent  and  unexpected  disease:  no  time  on 
that  death-bed  for  any  preparation.  Have  you  even 
fixed  the  period  when  you  will  come  to  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  believe  in  him  to  the  saving  of  your  soul  ? 
So  did  another  young  man.  "My  next  birthday  will 
soon  come  round,  and  then  I  Trill  give  my  heart  to 
Christ."  These  were  his  words  on  a  Sabbath  morning 
as  he  was  leaving  the  church  after  a  very  solemn  sermon. 
On  Tuesday,  while  exhibiting  his  strength  in  lifting  a 
heavy  box,  he  burst  a  blood-vessel,  proving  almost  im- 
mediately fatal.  His  birthday  came,  but  where  was  he? 
Are  you  resisting  the  Holy  Spirit,  refusing  to  yield  at 
once  to  those  convictions  of  guilt  and  danger  that  would 
bring  you  to  the  foot  of  the  Cross  for  pardon  and  eternal 
life  ?  It  may  be  with  you  as  with  another,  who  hesi- 
tated too  long  before  resolving;  to  be  on  the  Lord's  side. 
About  to  enter  Jayne's  Hall,  and  meeting  an  ungodly 
companion,  he  allowed  himself  to  be  drawn  another  way. 
An  infidel  book  was  placed  in  his  hand  :  he  read  it,  and 
all  at  once  it  became  as  dark  within  as  the  smoke  of  the 
pit  could  make  it !  In  a  single  moment  he  was  given 
over  to  blindness  of  mind  and  hardness  of  heart.  Belief 
in  God's  word,  conviction  of  sin,  every  purpose  of  good, 
all  vanished ;  he  was  made  to  know  by  a  fearful  expe- 
rience that  to  quench  the  Holy  Spirit  was  to  leave  the 
soul  in  utter  and,  for  aught  that  appears  to  the  contrary 
thus  far,  in  eternal  darkness.  Wait  not  for  deeper  con- 
victions. The  question  is,  "Are  you  really  convinced?" 
not,  "How  deeply  are  you  convinced  of  sin?" 

"'The  door  was  shut:'  that  was  the  text,"  said  a 
young  convert,  "  that  went  to  my  heart,  and  awakened 
me  as  to  my  danger."  "Isaiah  xii./'  said  another: 
"that  was  the  chapter  that  brought  me  consolation." 


SUPPLEMENT.  69 

"My  verso,"  said  another,  "was  John  vi.  37  : — 'Him  that 
cometh  to  me,  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out.'" 

May  God,  in  infinite  mercy,  grant  to  every  reader  of 
this  tract  that  he  too  may  learn  the  groat  lesson  that 
man  is  a  sinner,  that  Christ  is  a  Saviour,  and  act 

ACCORDINGLY  ! 


SUPPLEMENT. 

The  Contrast. — To  look  back  to  the  state  of  religion 


BllJil 


in  Philadelphia  two  years  ago  is  to  be  reminded  of  Is- 
rael in  the  land  of  Egypt  or  of  Babylon,  in  the  days  of 
Nehemiah,  Isaiah,  Ezekiel,  Joel,  and  Jeremiah.  We  al- 
most shudder  to  think  how  far,  how  very  far,  the  flock 
had  wandered  from  the  fold,  and  to  what  a  sad  extent 
"the  rivers  of  water  were  dried  up,  and  the  fire  had 
consumed  the  pastures  of  the  wilderness." 

But,  "  blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord  our  God,  who 
hath  dealt  wondrously  with  us,"  "the  years  that  the 
locust  hath  eaten,  the  canker-worm,  and  the  caterpillar, 
and  the  palmer-worm,  he  hath  restored."  From  the 
beginning  to  the  end  of  this  ever-memorable  year  of  the 
Lord,  to  those  who  have  been  fully  engaged  in  the  work 
it  has  been  but  one  continued  "feast  of  harvest."  Each 
season  has  witnessed  to  the  power  of  God,  each  month 
to  his  faithfulness,  each  week  to  his  mercy,  and  each 
day  to  his  love.  All  its  days  have  been  as  "  the  days  of 
heaven  upon  earth."  AVe  have  seen  no  reason  what- 
ever, even  for  a  single  moment,  to  doubt  the  truth  of 
our  position, — that  this  is  indeed  "the  finger  of  God." 
Like  the  streams  from  the  mountains  of  California,  that 
leave  behind  their  rich  deposits  of  gold,  or  like  the  over- 
flowing of  the  Nile,  that  leaves  its  fertilizing  sediment 


* 


70  SUPPLEMENT 


on  every  inch  of  soil  over  which  it  passes,  so  has  it 
been  with  these  "streams  from  Lebanon/' — this  "river 
of  God/'  which  is  "so  full  of  water."  With  one  accord, 
we  believe  it  will  be  universally  admitted  that  such 
a  year  as  the  past  this  city  has  never  seen  before. 
"The  ploughman  overtakes  the  reaper,"  the  "threshing 
reaches  unto  the  vintage,"  and  "the  treading  of  grapes  to 
the  time  of  sowing."  Once  more  has  the  precious  promise 
been  fulfilled,  "  He  shall  cause  them  that  come  of  Jacob 
to  take  root ;  Israel  shall  blossom  and  bud,  and  fill  the 
face  of  the  world  with  fruit."  (Isa.  xxvii.  6.)  Because 
of  its  marvellous  abundance,  we  complete  the  circle  of 
the  year  with  thanksgiving  and  with  holy  joy. 

Perhaps  there  is  nothing  that  will  better  show  the 
vitality  of  the  Union  Prayer-Meetings,  and  the  steady 
interest  manifested  in  them,  than  the  manner  in  which 
their  anniversaries  have  been  observed. 

The  Daily  Morning  Prayer-Meeting,  (Buttonwood 
Street,  above  Fifth.     Service  at  8  a.m.) 

The  anniversary  of  this  meeting  was  held  on  Wednes- 
day, the  16th  of  March.  From  the  very  beginning,  there 
has  been  an  earnest,  tender  spirit  about  this  meeting  that 
makes  it  the  true  successor  of  the  "Bochim"  elsewhere 
described  in  these  pages.  If  anywhere  inquiring  souls 
are  sure  of  sympathy,  it  is  here;  and  from  week  to 
week,  almost  constantly,  have  there  been  those  who 
have  availed  themselves  of  it. 

The  Bethel  Meeting,  (Front  Street,  below  Chestnut. 
Service  at  noon.) 

This  Union  Prayer-Meeting  observed  its  anniversary 
Tuesday,  the  22d  of  March  j  and  a  very  sweet  and  precious 
season  it  was.  As  the  name  indicates,  there  is  special 
interest  taken  by  this  meeting  in  sailors.  During  the 
year,  many  of  them  have  been  present  to  stir  up  the 


SUPPLEMENT.  71 

zeal  of  their  brethren  by  such  exhortations  as  none  but 
sailors  can  givo.  "  When  I  was  far  off  upon  the  sea," 
"in  my  bunk,"  or  "aloft,"  "on  the  look-out,"  or  "at  the 
wheel,"  "the  Lord  met  me,  and  convinced  me  of  my  sin; 
and  I  am  here  to-day  to  say,  Pray  on,  brethren;  pray 
on.  Your  prayers  are  being  answered !"  How  often 
have  we  heard  such  declarations  as  these,  and  always 
with  new  and  peculiar  interest ! 

The  remarkable  feature  in  this  meeting,  however,  is 
the  fervour  and  freedom  of  its  Christian  fellowship. 
"Why,"  said  a  brother,  " I  can  compare  them  to  nothing 
else  than  a  little  band  of  disciples  who  are  in  love  with 
Christ,  and  have  fallen  in  love  with  each  other  for  his 
sake."  From  this  point  as  a  centre  the  holy  leaven  of 
brotherly  love  has  quietly  and  almost  imperceptibly  dif- 
fused itself  into  many  other  meetings.  Whoever  went 
into  that  heavenly  atmosphere  was  sure  to  take  some 
of  it  away  with  him.  Ask  any  who  attend  this  meeting 
how  it  came  to  receive  such  a  character,  and  all  the 
explanation  they  can  give  is  this: — "All  that  is  peculiar 
in  our  meeting  we  trace  to  the  fact  that,  from  the  very 
commencement  of  it,  we  determined  to  put  honour  on  the 
word  of  God, — not  to  use  it  merely  as  a  motto  and  read 
a  few  verses  as  a  matter  of  form,  but  to  read  a  good, 
honest  chapter,  and,  asking  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  only 
Teacher  of  the  word,  to  '  engraft'  it  in  our  hearts,  make 
that  the  staple  of  our  prayers  and  exhortations."  Thus 
it  is  that  they  know  what  it  is  to  have  fellowship  with 
the  Father  in  love,  with  the  Son  in  grace,  with  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  consolation,  and,  consequently,  understand  the 
fellowship  of  the  saints  to  an  extent  we  have  very 
seldom  seen  elsewhere.  It  is  indeed  a  "  Bethel ;"  and 
why  should  there  not  be  a  similar  meeting  in  every  vil- 
lage throughout  the  land  ? 


72  SUPPLEMENT. 

Noon  Prayer-Meeting,  (formerly  at  Jayne's  Hall; 
now  usually  held  in  Sansom  Street  Church.) 

To-day,  March  26,  the  attendance  was  as  large,  the 
"requests"  as  numerous,  the  prayers  as  earnest,  the 
exhortations  as  pungent,  and  every  link  in  the  golden 
chain  of  Christian  union  as  bright  and  perfect,  as  ever. 
Only  where  the  Comforter  is  absent  is  there  coldness  and 
division;  and,  thanks  unspeakable  to  Him  who  is  our 
Advocate  above,  the  Holy  Dove  is  with  us  still.  Even 
within  a  few  days  past,  some  of  the  most  marked  and 
wonderful  answers  to  prayer  have  been  witnessed  by  us 
of  any  we  have  yet  seen. 

"  Lovest  thou  me  ?" — A  few  weeks  ago,  the  twenty- 
first  chapter  of  John  was  read  and  briefly  commented 
upon  by  the  pastor  who  led  the  meeting.  It  pleased 
God  to  make  the  question  of  Christ  strike  home  to  the 
heart  of  many  a  Peter  with  unwonted  power.  The 
chapter  was  read  at  the  other  union  meetings,  and  made 
the  theme  of  exhortations,  lectures,  and  even  of  ser- 
mons; and  incident  after  incident  might  be  given  to 
show  with  what  power  it  became  to  many  "  the  present 
truth,"  the  "  word  in  season."  The  following  Thursday, 
a  lady  was  seen  at  the  close  of  the  services  with  her 
head  bowed,  and  so  totally  absorbed  in  thought  as  to 
bo  entirely  unconscious  that  the  receding  tide  of  wor- 
shippers had  left  her  alone  in  the  very  midst  of  the 
church.  "  Is  it  for  yourself  or  some  one  else  that  your 
heart  is  so  burdened  ?"  inquired  a  friend.  "  It  is  for 
myself.  I  feel  as  if  I  must  be  able  to  answer  that  ques- 
tion, <  Lovest  thou  me  V  or  I  shall  die !"  The  tearless 
agony  with  which  these  words  were  uttered  we  do  not 
pretend  to  describe.  Many  were  the  prayers  that  were 
offered  on  her  behalf,  and  it  was  not  long  before  she 
also  could  say,  "  Lord,  thou  knowest  all  things :  thou 
knowest  that  I  love  thee !"     Thus  has  God  often  ho- 


SUPPLEMENT.  73 

noured  his  word;  and  occasionally  a  singlo  text  has  filled 
a  whole  meeting. 

Experience  of  Young  Converts. — Take  that  of  one 
or  two  of  them,  just  as  it  has  fallen  into  our  hands. 

"  The  first  thing  I  felt  after  standing  up  for  prayer 
was  that  I  must  now  l  Stand  up  for  Jesus'  and  labour 
for  the  souls  of  others.  At  once  I  found  myself  talking 
in  a  manner  totally  different  from  any  thing  I  had  ever 
uttered  before,  and  I  began  to  listen  to  myself  in  per- 
fect astonishment.  It  was  as  though  some  other  person 
was  using  my  lips  and  speaking  through  them.  It 
seemed  to  mo  now  so  perfectly  natural  to  love  God  that 
I  could,  not  help  it ;  and  I  felt  that  I  loved  every  man, 
woman,  and  child  in  the  world.  When  I  prayed,  the 
expression  my  Father  and  my  God  fell  spontaneously 
from  my  lips  with  a  depth  of  meaning  that  was  full  of 
comfort  to  me.  The  following  Sabbath,  the  services  of 
the  house  of  God  were  unspeakably  precious  to  me.  My 
great  and  burning  desire  then  was  to  bring  others  to 
the  Saviour,  whose  love  so  filled  my  own  heart.  1  felt  as 
though  I  could  convert  half  the  world  could  I  but  get  an 
opportunity  to  talk  to  them.  Next  to  the  happiness  of 
the  knowledge  of  pardoned  sin  would  be  that  of  a  soul 
converted  to  God  in  answer  to  my  prayers.  This  also 
was  granted  to  me.  ...  I  have  lived  a  lifetime  in  this 
glorious  year  which  is  now  drawing  to  a  close.  Religion 
becomes  simpler  to  me  every  day,  and  I  find  it  all 
summed  up  in  this  single  sentence: — ( Looking  <  unto 
Jesus !' " 

Testimony  of  one  of  our  Oldest  Pastors. — "One 
hundred  and  two  converts  have  been  added  to  us  this 
last  year ;  and  I  can  truly  say  that,  in  all  the  revivals 
through  which  I  have  passed,  I  have  never  known  one 
in  which  the  converts  have  pleased  me  so  well  as  those 

7 


74  SUPPLEMENT. 

in  this  present  gracious  visitation.  Two  associations — 
one  male  and  the  other  female,  most  of  them  these  con- 
verts— now  sustain  between  them  as  many  as  thirty 
prayer-meetings, — many  of  them  at  private  houses, — 
from  which  they  bring  to  me  many  inquiring  souls." 

Diligent  Prayer-Meeting. — This  has  now  become 
the  regular  evening  daily  prayer-meeting,  and  all  that 
we  have  said  of  the  noon  meeting  is  equally  true  of  it. 
The  number  of  conversions  has  recently  been  greater 
here  than  in  any  other  meeting.  Fifteen  minutes  before 
the  close  of  the  services,  the  opportunity  is  invariably 
given  to  any  persons  who  desire  the  prayers  of  the 
meeting  to  rise ;  and  scores  of  instances  could  be  given 
in  which,  when  asking  and  receiving  the  prayers  of 
others  on  their  behalf,  God  has  heard  their  own. 

On  the  25th  of  March,  one  of  the  firemen  of  this  com- 
pany rose  and  said,  "  I  feel  it  a  duty  pressing  upon  me 
to  acknowledge  that  this  is  my  birthday, — my  first  spi- 
ritual anniversary.  This  day,  one  year  ago,  I  gave  my 
heart  to  God !  The  year,  how  short !  and  yet  long 
enough  for  me  to  find  the  reality  and  happiness  in  the 
religion  of  Jesus  Christ.  Suddenly,  without  a  moment's 
warning,  I  have  found  myself  in  the  midst  of  danger 
and  my  life  in  peril ;  but  God  has  watched  over  and  pro- 
tected me.  I  have  not  lived  up  to  my  privileges  as  I 
should  have  done;  but  my  experience  is  this, — that  the 
nearer  I  live  to  God  the  nearer  I  want  to  live;  the  more 
I  labour  for  him,  the  more  I  want  to  labour !  Happy 
thought !  each  year  I  now  live  I  am  one  year  nearer  my 
home !  One  word  to  those  who  are  still  out  of  Christ. 
Each  time  you  have  mercy  offered  to  you  and  you  reject 
it,  the  harder  your  heart  becomes,  until  no  impression 
is  made  upon  it  whatever.  Bear  in  mind  the  solemn 
words  of  God,  'My  Spirit  shall  not  always  strive,'  and 
accept  pardon  while  you  have  time  and  opportunity."  . 


SUPPLEMENT.  75 

Quakertown. — Wo  have  very  recent  and  gratifying 
intelligence  from  our  dear  brethren  in  this  place.  "  Per- 
suasion Hut,"  as  their  edifice  is  sometimes  called  by 
its  opposers,  is  still  doing  its  good  work,  and  "  The 
Tabernacles,"  as  its  worshippers  are  termed  by  way  of 
reproach,  give  good  evidence  that  they  are  indeed  "  the 
temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  The  work  is  extending 
into  the  regions  beyond. 

TnE  Friends'  Prayer-Meeting. — Two  pious  ladies, 
with  their  relatives,  long  intimate  associates  of  Joseph 
John  Gurney  and  Elizabeth  Fry,  living  in  a  rural  dis- 
trict near  the  city,  which  was  destitute  of  all  the  ordi- 
nary means  of  grace,  and  feeling  in  their  own  hearts  the 
influence  of  the  mighty  wave  of  spiritual  awakening 
sweeping  over  the  land,  united  with  some  young  men 
of  the  Christian  Association  in  sustaining  in  a  school- 
house  in  the  neighbourhood  a  union  prayer-meeting.  As 
the  meetings  continued,  the  interest  deepened;  and  in  the 
stormiest  weather,  when  the  roads  and  lanes  leading  to 
the  place  of  meeting  seemed  almqst  impassable,  the  room 
would  be  crowded  to  excess.  At  length  the  cloud,  big 
with  mercy,  broke  upon  and  baptized  the  waiting  as- 
sembly. After  an  unusually  long  and  interesting  meet- 
ing, while  the  brethren  were  singing  some  of  the  songs 
of  Zion,  as  if  still  unwilling  to  separate,  the  attention 
of  a  brother  was  directed  to  a  young  man  bowing  his 
head  upon  a  form,  who  seemed  to  invite  the  attention 
of  some  one  who  cared  for  his  soul.  Scarcely  had  the 
brother  reached  him  and  laid  his  hand  upon  his  shoul- 
der, and  said,  "My  brother,"  when  the  young  man 
leaned  his  head  upon  the  brother's  breast  and  burst  into 
such  a  convulsive  flood  of  tears  as  wellnigh  unmanned 
all  present.  While  thus  refusing  to  be  comforted,  a 
young  lady  came  up,  and,  putting  her  arms  around  his 
neck,  joined  her  tears  with  his,  and  together  they  wept 


76  SUPPLEMENT. 

to  such  a  degree  that  the  brethren  could  not  refrain 
from  weeping  with  them.  At  length  they  began  to  tell 
of  Jesus,  who  himself  wept  for  dying  men.  Till  nearly 
midnight  the  cries  for  mercy  went  up  from  this  group, 
echoed  back  by  others  in  another  part  of  the  room,  also 
broken-hearted  on  account  of  their  sin,  and  the  brethren 
gladly  continued  to  hold  up  the  cross  and  point  to 
Him  who  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world.  It  subse- 
quently appeared  that  the  lady  was  a  bride,  and  the  gen- 
tleman her  husband,  to  whom  she  had  been  united  but 
four  days  before.  By  the  next  meeting  both  of  them 
were  rejoicing  in  Christ;  and  the  week  following,  another 
husband  and  wife,  with  several  others,  were  soon  follow- 
ing in  their  footsteps.  The  meeting  is  still  continued 
with  unabated  interest. 

The  Meeting  where  God  was — still  continues  as  a 
meeting  where  God  is.  A  pastor  at  whose  house  it  was 
recently  held,  among  other  things,  writes  as  follows : — 
"Very  memorable  was  it  because  of  the  exalted  Christian 
fellowship  that  was  enjoyed  at  it.  It  was  a  season  of 
rejoicing, — of  happy  exultation.  Every  one  felt  that 
Jesus  was  there  talking  with  his  chosen  on  the  way, 
and,  oh,  how  their  hearts  burned  within  them  !  The 
prevailing  spirit  of  the  meeting  was  that  of  thankful 
rejoicing  in  the  fulness  of  the  great  salvation.  '  Jesus 
and  Jesus  only  was  the  essence  of  every  song,  the  end 
of  every  exhortation,  and  the  burden  of  every  prayer. 
Heart  flowed  into  heart  in  the  gushing  sympathy  of  love 
to  Christ  and  joy  in  him;  while  all  felt  that  they  were 
upon  the  Mount,  and  that  God  was  giving  them  precious 
glimpses  of  his  glory  as  he  revealed  the  infinite  fulness 
of  his  grace  in  Jesus.  That  little  company  had  many 
cares  to  trouble  them  and  many  sins  to  make  them 
weary,  but  oh,  what  a  blessed  retreat  they  found  on 
that  memorable  night,  as  they  shut  out  the  world  and 


SUPPLEMENT.  77 

gathered,  as  the  friends  of  the  Crucified,  mound  the 
mercy-seat,  and  hid  themselves  in  the  cleft  of  the  rock 
while  the  glory  of  the  Lord  passed  by.  The  joy  of  the 
Lord  was  tilling  their  souls,  and  as  hand  was  clasped  in 
hand  as  they  sung  their  parting  song,  and  every  face 
beamed  with  the  radiance  of  the  pure  joy  which  the 
Master  had  given,  how  rich  and  full  was  the  experience 
of  those  who  once  walked  in  the  ways  of  sinful  pleasure, 
that  the  greatest  happiness  which  can  be  found  on  earth 
is  that  which  springs  up  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  are 
thus  made  by  the  grace  of  God  Ho  sit  together  in 
heavenly  places  in  Christ  Jesus'!  Many  were  they  who 
tasted  of  the  grapes  of  Eshcol  on  that  precious  evening." 

The  Tract  "Pentecost"  an  Answer  to  Prayer. 
— Shortly  after  his  conversion,  a  young  convert  com- 
menced a  "Religious  Album,"  in  which  to  record  inci- 
dents illustrating  the  mighty  power  of  the  prayer  of 
faith,  and  the  simple  means  employed  by  God  to  pro- 
duce the  most  stupendous  results.  The  first  sentence  in 
this  book  read  as  follows: — "I  dedicate  this  book  to 
Almighty  God  by  prayer,  and  with  the  fervent  wish, 
hope,  and  belief  that  he  may  bless  what  is  herein  con- 
tained to  many  of  God's  saints,  in  strengthening  their 
faith,  and  be  the  means,  under  God,  of  leading  some  soul 
into  a  saving  knowledge  of  the  truth."  The  dedication 
concludes  with  this  remarkable  expression : — "Now,  little 
volume,  go  forth  on  thy  mission  of  love  and  mercy ;  and 
may  eternity  reveal  the  results  of  thy  mission  here  on 
earth !" 

It  was  this  album  that  first  suggested  the  idea  of 
"Pentecost"  and  supplied  some  of  its  most  valuable 
pages.  The  tract  and  the  album  are  identical.  The  "  little 
volume"  has  indeed  "gone  forth."  Ten  thousand  copies 
already  in  circulation, — republished  beyond  the  ocean, 
with   an   introduction  of   twenty  pages    by  Professor 

7* 


78  THE   WORK   OF   GOD   IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

Gibson,  of  Belfast, — and  now  the  second  edition,  with  the 
Supplement,  stereotyped  :  if  such  is  the  beginning  of  its 
history,  what  will  be  the  end  ?  If,  as  we  have  now  the 
evidence  before  us,  some  who  have  read  it  in  private,  or 
heard  it  read  in  various  prayer-meetings  have  been  con- 
verted through  its  instrumentality,  is  it  too  much  to 
ask  the  prayer  of  the  Christian  reader,  who  now  lays  it 
down,  that  it  may  be  blessed  to  the  conversion  of  many 
more  ?  Dear  reader  still  out  of  Chris^  will  you  not  pray 
that  its  perusal  may  lead  you  also  to  say, 

"  I  the  chief  of  sinners  am : 
But  Jesus  died  for  me"  ? 

Philadelphia,  March  26,  1859. 


THE   END. 


STEREOTYPED  BY  L.  JOHXSOS  &  CO- 
PHILADELPHIA. 


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Continent 


